To die in their name
by BlackMH
Summary: The Land Council learns of the pikmins true motives. But before they could put it to use, two of their strongest members have been killed by the pikmin. Not only that, Titan Dweevil picks the worst time to take a day off. -Chapter 14: Fate of the Doomed-
1. Fate of the Empress

Hello! This is my first pikmin story, but I'm pretty good at writing.

To those of you who already know me…look, I'm sorry I haven't been writing stuff for a while now. I just can't seem to get anything done. But I did this and that's just as good, right? Right?

Anyway, this chapter tells the fate of the Empress Bulblax. The next chapter will be in the point of the Burrowing Snagret. There are references to the first game that I'm sure I must've got wrong. So don't flame me because of one mistake.

P.S. everyone will refer to other species by their names. So deal with it.

Chapter 1 – Fate of the Empress.

Has this ever happened before?

He was nowhere to be found. None of the other Bulborbs have seen him. I was getting worried…

The Grand Emperor Bulblax had disappeared from his resting area ever since that flying metal object soared through the clouds and was never seen again. It left with an odd creature, something like an alien. I remember back before my destined impregnate, he led a squad of Pikmin, nearly an army. I had heard from the other Bulborbs that the pikmin seems to have been dominating other areas of the forest with potential power; rumor had it that they were the ones who took out the Cannon Beetle tyrant who disappeared as well.

I began fearing for my existence. The Snagret brothers were gone; the Beady Long Legs had vanished, the Puffstool had disappeared, and the heir to the Cannon Beetle's title had disappeared too! Every animal that came in contact with these pikmin had disappeared on the sight. Some say they were killed on the spot, others say they ran away to the farthest edge of the woods, never to be seen again. I was an exception though. I dug underground because my body was soon swelling with embryos and I didn't want to fight. Plus, I had eaten a very weird object, out of curiosity; I wasn't feeling so good…

Ever since, I have lain here, motionless, hoping that I could give birth soon to my new children larvae. I was one night away from the day I would give birth to a massive squadron of Bulborbs. Well, I was really hoping to lose this weight. I've become an Empress Bulblax, and this girth is what I get for claiming this title.

Since I'm all alone in this cavern, I spend most of my time sleeping. I would depend on other Bulborbs to bring me food if I were ever hungry. But….yawn…I'm already getting sleepy. Better rest for tomorrow…

"_Look at the size of that!"_

"_It's pretty fat."_

"_I don't like this…"_

"_We can take it on!"_

"_It's bigger than us you moron!"_

"_Never stopped us."_

"_C'mon! Let's get it!"_

I woke up to the sounds of beatings upon my soft flesh. I uncurled myself only to come face to face with an entire squadron of pikmin. And in front of them, was their leader, accompanied by someone like him but more bluish.

I was socked to see that the rumors were true. These pikmin _were_ led by a leader. The same person who must've killed off the Grand Emperor! And now, they're here for me! I was in big trouble here. Because of my massive body, my legs cannot reach the ground. I wouldn't be able to just walk up to them and eat them. I needed these guys away from me as fast as I could.

I was disturbed from my train of thought as their leader began throwing pikmin at my face. They clouded me like a swarm of Spectralids over a flower swollen with nectar. I shut my eyes and tried to shake them off, but I had little movement in my large body and I could barely move from side to side. There leaves pounded at me mercilessly, I could feel them beginning to penetrate my skull. I was on the verge of throwing them all off when something very heavy landed on my head. The force was absolute; it felt like he threw ten pikmin at once!

With my remaining strength, I threw off all the pikmin from my face and saw each one lying down from the force of the shock. Their leader blew a loud whistle and they all scampered to his side. He was positioned and ready to throw at me, but I was smarter than to just hold still.

I shoved my entire body to the right, causing me to roll to the other side of the cave. I collided with the wall unexpectedly causing some squirting sounds to go off in body. I realized I had crushed some embryos in my body; I was such an idiot! Quickly, I rolled back to face the pikmin once more, but I rolled too hard and collided with the other wall, crushing more embryos in the process. Cursing to myself, I rolled at the right speed to stop and directly face them.

Suddenly, I was overcome with pain and nausea. The pikmin assault to my head was pounding like mad, and the embryonic juices within me began to mess with my system. I was feeling real sick…

But that didn't stop them from jumping to my head. Once again they resumed pounding into my fractured skull as I was helpless. I was beginning to lose conscious as my bodily system slowly died. The embryos within me reacted to the deathly shut down my body was consumed with as they exploded one by one. I could feel my egg sac shrinking away as well as my life. The agony, the pain…I couldn't take it anymore!

I let out an enormous roar, telling the pikmin I had given up. The last of my breath was followed by the implosion of my egg sac, the metallic component jutting out of my body as well, and soon, all went white.

I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move, my eyes hung downward looking at the pikmin who sealed my fate. My body had been diminished, returning to the size I was before my maturity. I could feel them picking me up as others were lifting the mechanical object I spat out.

Was this meant to happen? Was this my fate from the beginning? Were these pikmin destined to become the most dominant species on the planet? If so, then I must've been in their way. And as for every occasion, anything in the way must be taken care of, and I was.

But it wasn't fair! These pikmin had no hopes of survival from the beginning. Some guy comes out of nowhere, enslaves these pikmin, and dominates the animals of this land. It's not right! My species had worked hard to get to where we are now, and for what? To be used as fertilization for beasts who were destined to fade from this planet? Dying in their name is the worst fate of all.

To die in their name is dying as weak, simple prey.

Next chapter: The fate of the Snagret ambassador…


	2. Fate of the Snagret

Here's chapter 2. I included a little more than just the battle with the Snagret. And yes, the bulborb will matter later on. Plus, I know that when a boss eats a white pikmin, only minimal damage is done, but I decided to put in symptoms of poisoning myself.

Chapter 2: Fate of the Snagret.

Some days it's just too easy.

Plucking bugs in a frenzy with no guardian anywhere, pretty soon, we Snagrets will become the territorial kings of this land.

It was very noticeable; the number of Bulborbs around here has been decreasing. Usually, there would be a Bulborb here and there, but I only saw two today. I overheard those Creeping Crysanthemums near the Snagret hole that an entire squad of pikmin had entered the Hole of Beasts with Bulborbs scurrying away like crazy. If only I was there, I would've had a snacking to a Bulborb or two. But anyway…

With the Hole of Beasts empty, it was free territory for the taking. I went to the hole as soon as I heard the news, but the entire cavern was caved in! Something went down in there alright. I went down to see the rotting remains of Bulborbs and other insects; those pikmin are a cruel bunch. I would've nipped at the bodies but they were too rotten to even smell; these guys sure don't stay fresh for long. Many of the tunnels inside were blocked but I managed to burrow down as many levels as I could. When I was no longer able to penetrate the rock, I rose out of the ground to find the entire area moist with a thin fluid. If I remembered correctly, an Empress Bulblax was here. I was about to leave when something caught my eye.

In the corner of the arena was a red Bulborb, looking like a day young, but the little thing was shaking. I moved close to the tiny creature and it looked up at me.

"…I'm…scared…" it told me.

"You gotta learn to live with it kid," I said, "Things don't go easy in this world. When I was a little hatchling, my mom suffered at the hands of pikmin too."

"…how'd…you know?" it asked me.

"So your mother shared the same fate too?" I said. "Doesn't surprise me. My mother was the alpha female along with three other Snagrets. I've never heard from them since, but I wasn't surprised when I heard those pikmin had something to do with them."

"…and…you're not…sad?" it asked me. Hmm, fair question.

"Well, I guess I just accepted it. It was gonna happen one day, but what really scared me was that I was born with no instincts."

"…" it stood there, slightly shaking less.

"But that didn't stop me from getting to where I am today. I made it into this world by myself, and I don't need anyone's help. Never had, never will."

"…don't you…have a…family?" it asked.

I looked at it with an unchanged expression. I thought back to my brethren who I was left with at the time our parents died.

"I was the runt of them. I didn't like them, but we still traveled together. But as soon as they matured, I was left alone. But I saw it coming. I know they're here in Awakening Wood."

The little Bulborb looked down to the floor in sadness. I had forgotten that the Empress died, along with his siblings. He was the only one left.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, your family is dead. Some of them probably died before they were born, right?"

"…no…some of us…still survived…but we had no food…I ate my brothers and sisters who died of hunger…and here I am…all alone…"

Now _that_ took guts.

And at such a young age. But he looked guilty about it. Guess he still hasn't realized it yet.

"Don't cry about that. What you did was what anyone would've done. In this world, everything is a predator and everything is prey. You just feel guilt, nothing more. Soon, when you're all grown up, you'll be looking back and be happy that you're alive."

Until I get hungry at least.

"…I…see…" it said.

The Bulborb looked down in thought and moments of silenced passed. I was about to walk, or burrow, away when the little Bulborb spoke up.

"Please mister Snagret sir, can you take me outside?" it asked.

"Now you're just being stupid," I said, earning a look of surprise from the young Bulborb, "We are animals of this world, there is no line of friendship between us, or any animal, that could but never exist. You should be lucky that I'm not craving Bulborb right now. You should live life like everyone else did; by themselves," I said as I burrowed away.

Those last words had me thinking. Those pikmin probably don't follow this philosophy at all. What disgraceful little runts. I'll take note to chew on at least two of them soon; maybe those blue pikmin in the pool would provide a tasty snack.

I resurfaced from the ground to find that the sun was setting. I was already feeling sleepy as I headed back to my nest. I wondered for a moment if I should visit my brothers and sisters over by the Snagret hole, but that Pileated Snagret master of theirs would forbid any contact from me. Some days I wondered what exactly makes him a suitable leader to them. Just because he has one appendage more doesn't make him the boss of the Snagrets. Besides, they probably have forgotten about me…is it okay to be forgotten?

Bah! What do I care if they forgot about me? I made it into this world without them and I never will need them. I don't need some master to tell me what to do. But, that is how the pikmin had thwarted the Empress… but anyone could've done that! The Empress saw it coming; she wouldn't even be able to defend herself from a Sheargrub! But then again, these guys may be out for this land once again. Some say they've come back to dominate the animals of this world and become the kings of the food chain. Like that'll ever happen! But if they are planning to do so, then that means I'll be next soon…

Hmph! I'm thinking too much, I'd better take it easy and rest 'til tomorrow…

"_This place is huge!" _

"_There's some sort of an arena over there!"_

"_I'm a white pikmin!"_

"_Stop saying that!"_

"_Those eggs mean trouble!"_

"_Don't tell me we're going over there, are we?"_

"_We pwn3d an Empress Bulblax before, what's the worse that could be here?" _

I overslept.

Those Whiskerpillars can cause some pretty nasty stomachache, or maybe it was that weird piece of wool I found in the flowers? Why did I eat that thing again? Oh yeah, I was hungry. I was unable to sleep very well because the pain wouldn't subside. You live and learn, right? Well, the nausea has passed. Time to…

I silenced myself at the sound of tapping from above. Very light tapping, like that of an ant, but it was so loud, and it sounded like there were so many of them. Some chattering and some heavy trudging, I took a guess but I wanted to see for myself. By instinct, I erupted from the ground causing whatever they were to huddled back in surprise. I looked at what would be my breakfast.

I was right. There were pikmin here, but of a different variety. I recognized the red ones, but those purple and white ones were new to me. I wanted to try the yummy yet scrawny looking white as soon as I can, but first, the appetizer. Instinct took over as I dived at a red pikmin. I couldn't believe I had missed that small red treat. I quickly dived at another pikmin, this time a purple one. It escaped again! My accuracy must not be that good in the morning.

I watched the pikmin scurry to the other side of my nest. I chose not to follow because I have a hard time burrowing through dirt that isn't my territory. The pikmin watched me as I held still, waiting for them to come back. Some of them looked frightened at the sight of me while some looked eager waving their leaves about. I realized that pikmin, nor any other animal, would be stupid enough to go near territory when the predator who claimed it is still around. I sighed as I knew the pikmin would retreat, so I dug underground and waited for something else worth catching.

I heard the pitter-patter of their footsteps once more and thought that these guys had a death wish or something. It seemed more like they wouldn't be leaving until they got something here, maybe they want my head? I joked.

Answering their call, I rose up to the ground and faced them once more. But then suddenly, this weird pikmin and some blue guy began throwing the pikmin at me. One of them landed on my beak and looked at me, like he was wondering what to do next. Here's an idea: get out of the way so I can see what I'm eating!

But nooooooooooo, the little pikmin began to pound me with its leaf. It was pathetic, but all of these guys began to beat at my head at once. It was hurting a bit…now it was hurting some…okay, now it really hurts!

I shook them off realizing what they were trying to do to me, they wanted to kill me! Who told these guys my head was a weak spot? The same pikmin who landed on me lied still in front of me. I took no chances and snapped at the little pikmin. It was a white pikmin I had in my mouth and I was about to pluck at more, but the guy who threw them at me whistled to them back. I shrugged, thinking that they would retreat, as I swallowed the pikmin in my mouth and began to-

GAH! What…was that pikmin? My eyesight was blurring, my breathing was shallow, and my feathers began to flock off! My eyes were burning like crazy! I lost my sense of smell! I hacked and I hacked, but nothing came out, not even air! What…GASP…was happening to me!

"Look Olimar!" some voice out of nowhere spoke, I couldn't understand it, but my sudden allergy allusion prevented me from hearing it anyway, "the creature seems to be showing symptoms of poisoning after eating that white pikmin. The white pikmin seem to excrete a toxic solution when chewed or eaten. Fascinating!"

My senses were numbed, but I felt the pikmin beating at my head once again. This did not make me feel any better as my poisoning was going critical. I tried to shake them off, but I couldn't tell if I was moving or if the pikmin came off. Then, I heard a loud crack.

With a great twist of my body, I shook off all the pikmin that were on me and burrowed underground. My poisoning was beginning to subdue, but I was worried about my state of being. The loud crack was of my skull as I felt my head was an awkward shape. I was enraged. These pikmin managed to damage my body in a way I could never imagine. I gave no second though as I reemerged out of the ground and snapped at the first pikmin I saw.

I saw the pikmin retreating, but I felt a pikmin had been caught in my mouth. The pikmin watched in horror as their companion was ensnared by me. If I could smirk, I would, but the only thing I did to insult them was eat the pikmin while looking at them. I snapped up, and swallowed the pikmin whole. The other pikmin shrieked in terror as the pikmin went down my throat. They deserved to be-

GAH! Oh…no…I…was feeling the same effects again. I ate the same pikmin! My eyes began to water, my breathing began to shallow, but the conditions seemed worse this time, my body was churning, my mouth was drying, and my conscious was leaving me. Was I…dying?

In a shriek of terror, I yelled to the heavens as my body fell limp to the floor. My bones cracked at the point where my body was under the ground. Then, the worse came.

An internal combustion occurred. The bone snapping was more like fireworks to me, which I had no idea what was a firework, but it caused my entire body to explode! All that was left was my head and the strange object I ingested. My breathing was put to a stop as my beak closed shut. All went white as the last thing I saw was pikmin swarming my dead remains.

I had been defeated. Me, at the hands of those pikmin. They worked together to triumph against my form and I was the result, the remains, of their reign. I was born in this world by only one way, but my end of this world was a fault. Perhaps I was meant to perish…

Impossible! I depended on myself to strive for this long, but something like pikmin have no right to end my life like this. They aimed to take me out but I didn't stand a chance. I failed to even threaten them as a Snagret! I was born as a Snagret, but I failed to fight like one. I died in their name without a fight.

To die in their name was dying what you thought you were.

Next chapter: Fate of the Beady Long Legs.


	3. Fate of the Long Legs

Hello again! This here is a new chapter that takes place a day before the pikmin go to Perplexing Pool. The Beady Long Legs undergoes a change of heart after he dies by the pikmin, so don't see it as OOC. It's fanfiction, how do we know what the Long Legs is REALLY like? Hmm?

Chapter 3: Fate of the Beady Long Legs

Another day comes…

Another boring day comes in the Perplexing Pool…

I woke up to the sound of Shearwigs fluttering about preying upon some Skitter Leafs. The Skitter Leafs were jumping about, trying to repel against the Shearwig's attacks, but it proved useless as the Shearwigs bit away their leafy bodies piece by piece. I could only do nothing but watch as the Skitter Leafs lives ended before my eyes (if I had them) since I had no business with them. However, I realized that the ground had become uneven in the middle of the feeding frenzy. That's when I jumped down and landed onto the ground in a menacing, yet flashy, entrance.

My arrival shocked all of the Shearwigs and Skitter Leafs around, but they shouldn't be surprised; they know this would happen if they do this around my turf! As my own form of punishment, I began stomping my feet around the ground, aiming for the lumps of dirt they had formed, as well as any bug that got in the way. The Skitter Leafs managed to run away thanks to their evolutionary speed, but no Shearwig escaped from my thunderous rage. I continued to pound away at the ground, as well as obliterating the Shearwig carcasses to smithereens, until it became as flat as a Dwarf Bulborb in the way of a Cannon Beetle's cannon-fire. Satisfied with the leveling of the floor, I decided to go and find some entertainment for myself as I passed some Bulbears which looked sad at the sight of the smashed up Shearwigs.

Ever since that flying metal object left to the skies, everything has gotten boring. The Yellow Pikmin were easily killed off by the bugs here and there and soon, only five were remaining. It was pathetic, really. The pikmin were just minding their own business, surviving and all, but those bugs really had it for them. They're just like me, in a way: we just want something done and no interferences. Many of the bugs here look down on me for that (no, I won't make a joke about the fact that I'm way taller then anyone) and I feel rejected, but because of my size, no one will even think about telling that to me in front of my face, not just because they don't know where it is.

I stopped to see a Wollywog caressing some bluish-white bubbles. They seemed pretty important. I was pretty curious as to what they are so I decided to ask.

"Hey," I yelled, "what is that?"

The Wollywog looked at me like it was none of my business or something, "you won't take 'em if I tell you?" it asked.

Before I could answer, there as a Dwarf Spotty Bulbear nibbling at my feet trying really hard to penetrate my thick hide. I looked at it with confusion when I realized it was just hungry. Not wanting to hurt the innocent thing, I shoved it away slowly and turned back to the Wollywog.

"Well, what would I want with them?" I asked.

"Why are you asking?" it replied.

"Just curious," I replied.

"Well, I consider these my life's work. These eggs are going to be a bundle when they hatch, but I feel a sense of accomplishment just by looking at it."

I watched as he, or maybe she, stared at the eggs, treasuring them as if they meant the world. If I were him, I guess I could feel the same sense of accomplishment for having done so much, but I can't, and maybe never will. I sighed to myself as I began to walk away, ignoring the Bulbears failing attempt to eat me and my legs, heading towards the Crawmad Lake when the Wollywog spoke to me again.

"'Ey, you, you're the only one who sympathizes those pathetic pikmin?" he asked me, pointing to the pikmin onion from view.

I looked at the pikmin and their onion as they looked back from their high posts, wondering if they were the subject of our conversation from the look on their faces.

"Pathetic?" I asked, looking back to the Wollywog, "I'd say more like potent."

"Those guys deserve nothing more than foreboding death!" it told me.

"Those guys have every right in doing what they want. It's the pride of their species."

"Beating us to death and harvesting our carcasses? They're worst than the demented Segmented Crawbster and loafy Giant Breadbug put together!"

"Survival of the fittest, that's all there is to it," I said as I walked on.

"Oh yeah? Well try saying the same thing when they come after you!" he said as I kept walking.

No way would that happen. The pikmin era is over. We are dominant now, not the pikmin. Sure, they killed of my sister back in the Lost Forest Navel, but there had to be a reason for it. I mean, maybe she started it. Maybe she threatened them in the first place. But what's done is done. My sister is dead and it's because of the pikmin. I have no grudge against them or feel revenge for it, she attacked them and she died for her foolishness. At least, that's what I heard. Many of the Wollywogs tell me that their relatives saw everything, that it was the pikmin who intruded and took her life. I highly doubted that. The pikmin just began their reign and took down the 8 Lords, but it's over, it's all over…

Night was already coming and I didn't wanna oversleep. After having finished my chat with the Hermit Crawmad at Crawmad Lake, I walked over to my territory to find nothing disturbed. I was a slow walker, so by the time I got there, it was probably 3:00 or something. Tired, I took a great leap to the sky, hung onto the tree branch, got cozy and drifted to sleep. I was hoping that maybe tomorrow, I could talk to that Wollywog again and discuss the pikmin rebellion and how it ended…

I guess I did oversleep. The sun was already in the middle of the sky and the air was very warm. I wondered why the sun's heat waves didn't wake me, since I dislike heat. Well, now I'm up. I hopped down to the floor to find more holes in the ground. I was a little annoyed knowing that those darn Shearwigs don't clean up after themselves; it would help if I didn't have to pound the ground momentously just to fix it! As I stomped the ground, I noticed that a little scuffle took place here. Tiny footprints were left and I know Shearwigs don't leave footprints. I looked to where the footprints lead and I saw something I thought I'd never see.

With my own eyes, I saw the Yellow Onion, as well as an unfamiliar Red one, as well as a weird metallic structure similar to the metal flying object that flew away months ago, except it looked a bit headless. There were numerous footprints here, possibly an army, that lead from here, to there, and to the…no.

"Surprising, isn't it?"

I looked down to see a Toady Bloyster looking at the Onions as well. He didn't seem so surprised; he looked more like invoked.

"These guys came out of nowhere, that's the least I can tell ya."

"What happened here?" I asked it, pointing to the mess of footprints.

"Oi, T'was a real mess. They were ambushed by the Shearwigs that lived here. The Shearwigs tried to eat them, but the pikmin retaliated by swarming. There was more pikmin than Shearwigs, by a landslide, so the Shearwigs didn't stand a chance."

I looked at the footprints in disbelief. The pikmin had begun to fight back, after all this time. Why, though, would the pikmin have turned violent?

"They didn't stop there though, no-siree. They went to take down the Bulbears, the Fiery Bulblax, the Snitchbugs, even the Wollywogs. After that, they recruited the yellows and became an army of Red and Yellows."

I stopped listening after Wollywog. The pikmin really have turned violent. I walked in a hastening pace to see that there was no Wollywog in sight, nor a Bulbear. I saw that the eggs were gone too. I shuddered in the tragedy that something like this had happened. I was angry yet I didn't know why. Maybe because of these merciless pikmin the innocent Wollywog suffered in their name. Nothing should suffer in their name. I felt that the pikmin rebellion has begun once again and I had to stop it. I couldn't let anymore blood be shed.

"Great Beady Long-Legs!" a voice from below called to me.

"My brothers and I thank you for saving us from the voracious Shearwigs that tried to eat us," said the Skitterleafs from yesterday.

One of the Skitterleafs had a bite mark on their wings, probably from the Shearwigs. I noticed that only two were present. Weren't there four?

"Hey," I said to them, "where's the other two?"

"…it was terrible Beady. My brothers were attacked by the pikmin and we tried to escape, but one of my brothers went into the water and drowned."

I looked to the waters to see the lone floating leaf, the remains of their brother.

All around me, there were sign of a pikmin attack. The pikmin have gone bad. They would take the lives of any creature who opposed them, and I could be next. After that, I asked the Skitterleafs where the pikmin went, and told me that they went down into the Citadel of Spiders. I couldn't let them poison the living of the innocent animals in the hole. I had to stop them.

I entered the hole and descended as far as I could. On my way, I saw no life at all, but signs of battle and struggling, as well as footprints, were everywhere. I didn't know if I wanted to see what happened here. The lives of the innocent were taken. The meaning of predation has changed. I can't bear this. This needs to stop right now!

I heard tiny chattering from the ground below. The pikmin must be down here…

_It's so wide and awesome…_

_I don't like the center…_

_Is that a web?_

_I'm a white pikmin! _

_I swear I'm gonna punch him if he doesn't stop!_

_I'm a yellow pikmin!_

_Not you too?_

It was hard for me to believe that the owners of those voices had any form of innocence at all. I mean, they didn't even sound threatening. But I saw their destruction, so they must be dangerous. Why would pikmin suddenly become threatening? I had no time to think, I had the element of surprise! I didn't bother using the hole; instead, I burrowed down to the next level. It was a pretty high fall; my conscious told me maybe I should've taken the hole as I fell. The ground was coming into view, so I aimed my feet for the ground and for a perfect landing.

As soon as I saw the pikmin though, I began to regret.

There was practically a hundred pikmin before me, some red, some white with red eyes, there was even more yellows than the last time I saw them. My entrance sorta surprised the pikmin before me, but I was surprised to see two very odd looking pikmin in front of them. My first mistake was looking down to count how many pikmin there were. The odd looking pikmin with a red stem thingy threw a red pikmin at my face! I bolted my body upwards to avoid the pikmin and it began to whack away at my feet, which did no damage to my skin complexion.

My second mistake was looking down to count the pikmin again. The odd pikmin guy whistled to the red calling it back. Quickly, I counted 40 reds, 10 whites, and 50 yellows. When I raised my body upwards, the odd pikmin threw a yellow pikmin at my face. I was too slow to dodge the pikmin and it flew pretty high. Either that odd pikmin has a good throwing arm, or the yellow pikmin used its freak-ears to fly. Anyway, the pikmin began pounding at my round body, striking my vital organs from the outside. If I could, I would beg for mercy, but the odd pikmin continued to throw yellows at my face, covering my mouth. I was barely able to breathe; my body was in so much pain. I could also feel them pounding at the glass object in my body which I had ingested a few months ago. The physics behind that I have yet to solve.

My third mistake was trying to run away from the swarm of pikmin. He, the odd pikmin, continued to throw pikmin at me as I walked, and I was a very slow walker. My entire body was covered with the yellow menaces, yet I continued to walk. After about eight steps, I decided to try shaking them off. The odd pikmin once again whistled; this time all the pikmin retreated just before I shook my body. I was relieved to have them off. I needed to take a breather.

That was my last mistake.

I leaned down so I could regain my energy, but the pikmin guy threw all of his pikmin onto me. All one hundred had gotten onto my body in such short time; they pounded away at my delicate form. I couldn't bear the pain any longer. These pikmin were trying to kill me! After such pity I had for them, they paid no mind to what they're killing at all. My body…my legs…I…can't…take it…

My body became no more. The joints on my legs creaked with bone cracks as my forms began to wither away into the winds. The glass object within me eventually fell through the crusty components that were my innards. My body, legs, and feet dissipated into the winds as all the water in my body evaporated. My mind was no more, my conscious was gone, I was trapped in a never ending abyss of hell.

For so long I had pitied the pikmin for their vain attempts at survival. For a long time they had been under us, doomed to feed off the scraps of life and whatnot. But it was time that they would rise, and in their rise many would fall. I had fallen, at their hands. They reign has started, they will be kings.

Murderous kings! Murderous animals! Mindless killers! Darkened by their mad leaders, they took me down for their own selfish purposes and I had no chance of counterattack! Revenge is meaningless now, but my newborn hate will never die down! Vengeance shall be brought upon them! There shall be no more guilt in the ones who die in their name.

To die in their name is dying with hate.

Next chapter is the fate of the Giant Breadbug…


	4. Fate of the Giant Breadbug

Well folks, here's chapter 4, fate of the Giant Breadbug. You wouldn't expect much from the Giant Breadbug so I decided to make it more interesting. I don't know. it's 7 pages over here, so…

Chapter 4: Fate of the Breadbug

So… has anyone seen Beady?

Don't tell me he…

The world doesn't feel safe anymore. Many animals are dying around the world and no one wishes to do anything about it. My neighbor, the Beady Long Legs, met his fate yesterday. I haven't seen him or the other bugs that much, and now they're gone. I missed the days were we would play hide-n-seek after a two hour plead, though they always managed to win. But they're all gone, all but a few animals. The Toady Bloyster may have an idea of what happened, but I can't bring myself to talk to him; he and I don't get along very well. Still, though, it's my only lead as to who killed them off, since I am curious as to who did him in. If there's any shred of dignity in me, I'll have to swallow it and ask the Bloyster himself. I just hope he doesn't make fun of me though.

I walked on over to the giant pool of water that housed the Toady Bloyster and his neighbors. Minding his business, he waded around the water preying on anything edible. I reminded myself I just had to know what happened yesterday and I knew he'd be the only one with an idea. He could already tell I was there.

"Yo fat stuff, what brings ya here?" he said.

I ignored his words and wanted to leave, but curiosity got the best of me as I asked him.

"Listen, I know we don't get along well, but can you at least save me the trouble and tell me what happened?"

"Hmm, you were probably back in your hole devouring something bigger than you, correct?"

"Please…the other Breadbugs helped me."

"I'm sure they did. Anyway, all in all in curiosity, I guess someone even like you deserves to know."

I listened in to the words that came out of his mouth…hole…sucker thing.

"The pikmin are rebelling," were the only words that left his clam mouth as I stood there.

I have heard that the pikmin had achieved their takeover sometime before, having successfully killed off the King Bulblax and all. What bothers me is, why would they start again? After a time, their numbers went down after the mass predation movement. Pretty soon, they were down to 15 pikmin in a matter of days. Some unknown force made them the unstoppable killers we feared days ago, but when their numbers dropped why didn't they fight back? Was there one pikmin who commanded them to fight back? Was that one pikmin assassinated by a revenge seeking enemy? Has another pikmin taken his place?

"So, Beady and the others…they're all…?" I said.

"Yes, the pikmin killed them. They harvested their bodies for scrap nutrition and now are coming for the rest of the battalion," the Bloyster said.

So it was the pikmin who killed off Beady. They probably killed off the Wollywogs and the Bulbears that hung around near the Citadel. They were innocent victims, but they did fight back. They must've been outnumbered. Soon, word of this will spread throughout the land. But there're way more of us then there are of them. Just then, something hit me: what if we outnumber them?

"Hey, what if we fight back? We could gather our forces and bring them together to take down the pikmin," I asked.

"As if anyone would agree to that, Bread butt. Not many predators are willing to fight for something as measly as pikmin. All that matters is food, shelter and population," he bluntly said.

"Well, Bloyster, isn't it the _pikmin_ who are harvesting us as _food_? And isn't it _them_ who are taking away our _shelter_? Wouldn't that affect our _population_?"

"To stop the pikmin once and for all would be impossible. To stop them completely, they must be extinct. And that is an act against the _law_," the Bloyster said sternly.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. No one cared who would be the next meal for these monstrous creatures. Once, they were at the bottom of the food chain. Scraps for anyone who'd even bother wasting their time on these little appetizers. But the tables are turning; it is the pikmin who are dominating us. But still, I somewhat refuse to think that pikmin would bother with anyone who isn't in their way. It's not as if I have something of value to them. Honestly, it seems like they're looking for nutrition and treasures.

"They're simply fighting back because they're numbers went dangerously low…" I said.

Just then, another thought hit me.

"But why would they bother with the Underground Warlords?" I asked.

"Hmm, that is a good point. If the pikmin wanted to repopulate, why would they bother with the Underground Warlords?" the Bloyster confirmed, "They're onions don't follow them into the hole, and there's no way they'd be able to haul something as big as an Empress Bulblax."

"So, what do we do?" I asked.

"I really hate to say this, but it seems as if you've provided valuable information. I'd better report this to the Land Council," he said.

I found myself shuttering at the name of the unspoken words. Land Council. Was there really any need to be involved in this? Either way, I didn't want to be involved in anything with the Land Council. If the information I provided was indeed valuable, I may be presented something special. But if the information I have was instead inconclusive…

"T-Toady, i-is there really any need to speak of this to the L-L-Land C-Council?" I stuttered.

"The pikmin are considerably a threat to the Land Council, since all 5 of them are predatory to the pikmin themselves. Either way, the pikmin have messed with two of them already," he said.

"Already? How?"

"They killed the Empress and Beady. You know how much Raging is protective of his little brother. And killing the empress is considered an offense to the Bulborb tribe. I think they're a much more threat than we see them."

"Hasn't this been reported to the Council yet?" I asked.

"No. I was entrusted this, but I haven't done so lately. The Antennae Beetle has yet to arrive."

I knew now why the Toady didn't like me so much. He was of such high priority that he didn't want me to get in the way. But I ignored this and discovered that I've become ignorant and wasted his time by chatting with him for subjects of stupid things. My talks could've affected any objectives he had to do! I hope the Council doesn't know of me…

"You'll make them mad by simply prolonging the information," I pointed out.

"As if it was my fault. But there's no reason for you to be getting involved in this. Until now."

"Wait, you're not gonna tell them I told you this, will you?" I hesitantly asked.

"If you'd be kind enough to crawl back into your hole, then do so now!" he ordered.

Obediently, I walked back to my respective hole, refusing to do so may have angered him. I really didn't want to be a part of the conversation that would take place between him and the messenger Antennae Beetle. I would know too much. Still, however, if I were to have provided the _right_ information instead of a leading one, I probably wouldn't get as much of anything. But then again, I may anger them by bringing them useless information, but how is that possible?

Still, though, I do know one thing. I have practically nothing that the pikmin want, so I'm safe, at least. All I can do now is go back into my hole and search for scraps of food. I was getting hungry anyways, and the sun's almost up. The pikmin probably won't find me in a cleverly hidden hole. Although the big blitzing gates near it is a big giveaway…

_There's food everywhere!_

_Those Breadbugs were really greedy._

_All those bugs back there didn't help either._

_This place is full of Anode Beetles!_

_Isn't it funny when a Breadbug carries a bug we killed? _

_What's so funny about that?_

_Hey! Look over there!_

_That one is definitely bigger…_

I didn't realize how tired I was after scavenging for food all night yesterday. The other Breadbugs were tired too. I took a nap in resolve to the exhaustion, but the other Breadbugs had woken up before me. Although we had gathered a unique assortment of food, for some reason, I ate this white soft material before the other delicacies. I really didn't know what I was thinking, honestly. I thought the stuff looked promising. Anyway, I was glad to see that the other Breadbugs have yet to devour the food condiments before us, but my real concern was the sudden grouping of Anode Beetles before us. I knew they wouldn't be interested in our kind of food, so why did they choose to gather at this spot? Was it because of the electric generator's that stood in our field? Or was it…

I shuddered at the colorful creatures that stood to the right of me. Right there, under a red floating triangle, were the dreaded attackers of our civilization. Red, the armor of fire, Yellow, the voice of electricity, Blue, the walker of water, White….

'_Wait, I don't remember two extra colors in the assortment,'_ I thought.

There were two more colors added to the group. One of them was white, which was a smaller one and had bug-eyed red eyes. The other color was purple, pretty fat for a pikmin but it looked stocky for a pikmin. I couldn't tell from this distance, but there seemed to be hair on the pikmin. Still, there count was abnormal. I estimated about 95 pikmin with them, since if it were 100, it would be bigger. Anyone can tell.

I reminded myself that I had nothing that the pikmin wanted. All I had to do was mind my own business. And my business was food. However, the Anode Beetles I walked past seemed to eye me weirdly. As if I was in there way. They caused sparks to flow from their abdomens that seemed to be aimed directly at me, but I didn't feel the sting of electricity or anything. I knew something was wrong, but where are the pikmin in all of this?

Off to the side, I heard a cry. I looked to my left to see pikmin swarming in one area while two weird looking ones watched. When the creature gave off a deathly gasp, I hoped it wasn't one of the Breadbugs that lived here. Thankfully, the sound of dying static was heard as the pikmin moved out of the way so that I could see that it was an Anode Beetle. The Anode Beetles beside me seemed to flinch at the death of their brethren while the other Breadbugs only saw a hearty meal. Of course it didn't matter to me, but seeing the fearful power of the pikmin in clusters…

…The poor thing suffered in only a second.

Was this the power of the pikmin in numbers? Either way, it's not as if swarming would work on a Breadbug. We are, how should I say this, a hefty bunch. Only-

This time I heard a familiar grunting noise to my left. I turned to see a Breadbug aching to haul its meal to its hole, but the pikmin were refusing him to do so. The pikmin had obviously overpowered him in numbers as they easily made their way to under the red triangle and-

My heart skipped a beat as the Breadbug was lifted along with the Anode Beetle carcass. He wasn't sucked in with the body but only crashed onto the floor with a painful shriek. It definitely looked painfully, but the Breadbug managed to stand up again. I feared that the Breadbug would've been sucked up along with the carcass, or a much worse fate. Our skeletal structure isn't as strong as a Hermit Crawmad, but our fat could protect us well. It's just that hitting us where it hurts is the key to defeating a Breadbug, and toppling a Breadbug isn't that easy.

To be honest, I knew he was a bit stubborn when it counts. But trying to overpower a mass number of pikmin…

…that's how the Empress died…

…that's how Beady died…

Was there any point in trying to challenge the pikmin in the first place?

I heard more grunting to my side and saw that the same Breadbug was trying to pry a dead Anode Beetle from the grips of numerous pikmin. They were already close to the floating red object, and the Breadbug was losing the tug-o-war. If only the idiot would just let go of the food…

He floated upwards to the top of the red object. His cranium collided with the object's red surface. He pounded onto the ground with a painful shriek. And after that, he lied still…

No…

They…they…killed him…

'_They harvested their bodies for scrap nutrition and now are coming for the rest of the battalion' _

I remembered those words the Bloyster told me. It doesn't matter who _isn't_ in their way. They're going to kill us all and no ones gonna do anything about it! I can't do anything to fight back against the pikmin, but I won't let my subordinate succumb to an even worse fate.

I hurried and grabbed the carcass of my fellow Breadbug, dragging it away into my hole, where it will be disposed of the Breadbug way. The pikmin, however, had different plans. They surrounded the carcass and dragged it back to the floating pyramid. I tried my best to 'out-drag' them, but their strength overpowered me as I slowly floated up to the red objects way. The carcass disappeared from my mouth as I fell to the floor.

THUD!

Tremendous pain spreaded throughout my body as my innards suffered from the collision of the ground. My stomach ached, my intestines were in pain, had the landing have been more painful I probably would've been bleeding. I refrained myself from choking out of fear it might've been blood as I tried to walk. My walking pattern was slightly disoriented, but I could still lift and drag. My breathing was still normal, a bit shallow, and I could still see with no problem, it's the fact that I could've died. Maybe I grabbed something they wanted, I mean, even if it was my family, I shouldn't try and stop the pikmin from harvesting their corpses right? Well, at least I should prevent them.

I looked over to see another Anode Beetle perish by the pikmin. The pikmin walked away from the carcass as if it wasn't of any use to them. Thinking, I thought I should try and regain my strength so I grabbed the beetle and headed back to my own hole. Along the way, one white pikmin attempted to drag the beetle away from me but I easily outmatched it in strength. The pull of the white pikmin felt nothing more then a petal on the shell of a Cloaking Burrow-nit in mid-hunt. I noticed that the electronic generators were off as I dragged on further to my hole. When I got near to my hole, the entire pikmin squad ran over to me. I was scared for a moment but a loud whistle from one of the pikmin recalled the white one before I dragged it into my hole.

It was a while before I resurfaced, seeing that most of the place had been cleared off of electricity, Anode Beetles, and Breadbugs. There was only one left, not counting myself, and I pitied myself for having to take so long for a snack. I turned to my right to see a large white puddle of a solid concoction with a mysterious yet seemingly nutritious yellow center. The entire thing looked delicious and I got hungry just by looking at it. I told myself it was too dangerous too eat outside so I decided to drag it into my hole and eat it there. I grabbed the white delicacy and began to walk backwards.

I noticed that this tasty meal was where my other Breadbug family member had buried his hole. I didn't think he'd just-

Before me, an assortment of red, purple, white, blue and yellow had grabbed the meal in front of me and began pulling in the opposite direction.

I realized what was happening by the time we left the large circular disc I housed on that these pikmin were dragging this thing and were gonna take me with it. I didn't know why pikmin would be interested in something as grotesque as this, but the fact that my life was at stake told me to let go of the delicious platter. But my mouth wouldn't listen and instead clamped harder, my legs pulling backwards. It was as if my body refused to listen to common sense. Pretty soon, it told me that I can out these pesky runts, and I listened. I began to pull with all my energy, hoping to drag it back to my hole for me to eat. But I was losing and I was still clinging on to the large white treat.

I guess this is why you can be too stubborn for your own-

The awkward laser sound of telepathic lifting was heard, followed by a hollow poof.

THUD!

…oh god! My insides… my…cough…stomach! This…can't be!

The force of the blow from me colliding with the ground caused me to spat out the white object I had ingested earlier. The crash did more than make me regurgitate, my insides had jolted for the last time. My breathing had stopped since my lungs felt out of place, my stomach was burning since it felt like it was pierced, and my entire skeletal system was broken.

I felt my conscious fade away as my physical from was deprived of motion. My eyes go blind as my large body was lifted by the bringers of my death. I died at their hands, and I disappeared at their hands.

All I wanted was food and shelter and life and they took it away from me. I thought I was safe from their hands since I had nothing of importance to them but apparently not. All those who stand in their way are doomed from the start, and I learned the hard way. Would my information help those before they meet their fate? Or would they just die an inevitable death?

If only my words were heard by the Land Council…

If only I hadn't died in their name for this cost…

To die in their name is dying inevitably.

GASP! Plot! Well folks, I honestly didn't see that coming. So to all readers, I hope you don't hate me as much as I hate Gatling Groinks.

Anyway, as you would all know it's after this point in the game where you can go to any hole after. So, I'm letting you decide who should be the next victim- er boss. It's either:

A.) Emperor Bulblax

B.) Man-at-Legs

C.) Pileated Snagret

D.) Waterwraith

R&R!


	5. Fate of the Man at Legs

To die in their name

Merry Christmas everyone!

Man-at-Legs won the vote, so don't blame me. Some people decided to put in multiple votes like what majora999 tried to pull off. People, get it right. Besides, since Man-at-Legs lives in the Valley of Repose, I thought it would make a nice Christmas addition. That and I wanted to expose the machine half of the Man-at-Legs. New ballet to vote for at the end of the chapter.

It can be very hard…

To live as a machine is my burden…

I'm feared by many. No one wants to be friends with me. All because of my machine burden. If only I wasn't then maybe I'd make a few friends… nah, it's impossible. I know more than anyone that there is no such thing as 'friendship' in this world. I'm too smart to disagree.

It was another day in the Valley of Repose, a name I felt like calling this land for some unknown reason. Strangely, the other animals did also. But anyway, I walked around for some entertainment of some sort or anything that would brighten my day. I haven't had much luck recently, and by that I mean that I didn't find much entertainment. I was just about to give up when a bug hopped its way to me. I could sense its presence; Antennae Beetles give off constant sound waves.

"Man-at-Legs, I presume?" it asked me.

"Do you see any other mechanical monsters?" I replied.

"Heh, you wouldn't be the first," it said.

It asked me to talk in a more private area, since some Decorated Cannon Beetle Larvae were present in the area. We walked for some time until we stopped at a large mound of snow and it began to talk but I interrupted.

"We're not alone," I said.

The Antennae Beetle looked around in confusion.

"Under that mound of snow is a Burrowing Snagret." I said.

"Nothing escapes your eyes, Man-at-Legs, if any," it said, "but since it _is_ a Snagret, he needs to know too. Hey Snagret!"

The Burrowing Snagret rose out of the mound of snow and stared at me. It came up at the speed of 25 mph, which is awfully fast for a bird underground.

"What is it? Oh, it's you Man-at-legs. What do you want? Just don't shoot me."

I pointed down to the Antennae Beetle before me saying he summoned him. The Snagret looked at the Antennae Beetle with a bit of hunger in his eyes. The Antennae Beetle shuddered a bit but reminded himself that it was against the law to eat an Antennae Beetle since some may hold valuable information for or from the Land Council. I could tell; it was in the motion of his body.

"Uh, yes. I have information for both of you from the Land Council. First, Burrowing Snagret: I'm sorry to be the one to bring you such bad news, but your relative Snagret, claimer of the White Flower Garden, has been deceased."

"…what?" he said, sounding a bit surprised, "Who did it?"

"At the moment, we're guessing it was the pikmin," which received a growl from the Snagret, "but we're not exactly sure. The body wasn't left behind and we all know pikmin have no need to go underground since they're onions don't travel with them. Only a predator leaves nothing behind from his prey but we're still confused as to what predator."

"Tch, shows what you know," the Snagret said as he licked his beak staring at the Beetle.

The Antennae Beetle shuddered back a bit in surprise but then asked again.

"Uh…anyways. The Land Council requests that you meet them at the Forest Navel for their meeting. I need your confirmation before I can report back," it said, fear littering his voice.

"Sure, I'll be there. No delays," he replied.

"Excellent," he said, now turning to me, "I'm afraid I also have dreadful news for you Man-at-Legs."

"Are the pikmin involved?" I inquired.

"We are not sure. Beady Long Legs has gone missing. Our Shearwig Squadron has gone to inspect the place. We're not exactly sure of where he is, but-"

"A Beady Long Legs' feet are adapted to filter water for its food, plankton. When this happens, a Beady Long Legs' feet get spongy. As well as plankton, it gets its water this way," I said.

"…is this really important?" it asked me, the Snagret probably having the same idea.

"Yes. When a Beady Long Legs dies, its internal water supply dries out. Everything of the Beady Long Legs evaporates into dust that can be as small as a molecule. So it's more than likely that he was killed rather than went missing."

"Ah, so you do know a lot," the Antennae Beetle said, "they said you were good at observation."

"What will the Bulblax Successor do?" I asked.

"Oi, he's really gotten into this Land Council business. They ranked him the 5th because of his lack of motivation, but just yesterday, he was promoted to the 4th rank."

"Ah, so my distant cousin is feeling the pain too?" the Snagret asked.

"He ain't so happy, but from the look in his eyes, anyone can tell he could care less."

"Do I have to be at this meeting as well?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Raging Long Legs requested it. And as a 2nd rank, almost no one can deny his requests, not even you Man-at-Legs."

"Fine, I'll be there. Will it be tonight?"

"No, tomorrow. Bulblax has just recovered from a scuffle with his other brothers so the meeting will be held tomorrow morning. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to make a visit to the Perplexing Pool," the Beetle said, hopping away to a distant outpost.

"Well, see ya at the meeting," the Snagret said as he burrowed back underground.

I decided to hit the hay as well as I waltzed on towards my hole, the Subterranean Complex. I greeted the Watery Blowhog on my way and he seemed in a fitting mood. I walked over the gates that constantly emitted a foul gas that would drive away a Doodlebug. Once I reached my hole I readied myself for the long trek that would reward me with my nest. My battery compartment is powering down as well, so I decided to sleep as soon as I got to my nest. But I wonder what Raging Longs Legs wants to talk to me about? Oh well, better find out tomorrow.

_Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z Z _

I made sure that my battery would respond to the morning sunlight so that I wouldn't oversleep. I walked out of the hole and planned to head to the meeting right now. Though a lot of strange things happened along the way that I noticed. Well, one was that the gate was halfway knocked down. Second, all of the animals on my way to the meeting were absent. Thirdly, there was a bridge built that went straight across the lake. And the water beyond the lake was gone, like it was drained. I would've asked the Burrowing Snagret what happened, but he probably went to the meeting already, which I couldn't miss.

I decided to ignore these awkward events and pass them off as the doing of some animal with the mental capacity of common sense and walk straight to the meeting. The meeting was a secret cavern where the pikmin had last visited. Although proof of their doing was everywhere, the pikmin never came back. We decided to call, or rename, it 'Land Council HQ'. It was a fitting name, non-arguable in the least. Our last LCHQ was located where the king lived. Well, after some reconstruction the land was extended so now it is called the 'Wistful Wild'. Again, a fitting name.

I managed to make it to the LCHQ finding Pileated Snagret, as well as the 5 Snagret Followers, by his side. Waterwraith stood by the light that was emitted near the center of the HQ. His ghastly figure stood there, as if he had no movement at all. There were two Prince Bulblax's (the proper name would be Emperor Bulblax, but the King prohibited that title and reserved it for his successor) that stood by each other, both of which had a look of defeat in their eyes, as well as their faces; those bruise were noticeable. It must've been that scuffle the Emperor Bulblax had with them. At least he didn't kill them.

Off to my side, the ground was erupting. From the ground arose two beaks, one of a yellow hue while the other of a darker hue. I recognized these two as a Pileated Snagret and a Burrowing Snagret. These two must be the pair that lived together in a hole somewhere in Wistful Wild, since they came together. They looked at me and greeted me before walking off to talk to the Pileated Snagret that was ranked 4th, well, 5th now. The difference between those two Pileated Snagrets is because one rules with an iron fist, the other has an iron stomach.

Off to my left, a thunderous stomping shook the earth around me. I was taken by surprise and hoped that my defense system didn't activate. When I looked, almost hoping it was Raging Long Legs, I saw and recognized the sea blue shell of the Segmented Crawbster. He waddled on ahead, not recognizing me, like it was nothing. Everyone knows that they shouldn't surprise a Man-at-Legs, especially a timid one. Not after last time…

I looked up and realize that I was standing above the edge of HQ. If an animal were to fall down and on me…

I shuddered at the thought and decided to stand in the water, since it was most distant from the edge. I was surprised to see Ranging Bloyster standing right there in the water when I thought only Bulblaxes and Snagrets were accounted for. He _is_ a cold-blooded animal so it's no surprise that I didn't see him. When I saw him, I was reminded about the Antennae Beetle that made a stop at Perplexing Pool. I wonder if it was for him, since only Wollywogs are capable of sending messages to underwater creatures…

"Hey Ranging Bloyster," I asked, "Was there an Antennae Beetle that had a message for you yesterday?"

"Yeah, I was supposed to get a message from a Wollywog yesterday morning, but the Wollywog never came. I just so happened to take a walk outside and there I met an Antennae Beetle who had the message for me."

"Think there were any delays for the Wollywog?" I asked.

"Not really. Wollywogs are quick and tentative, so he couldn't have been behind schedule. Though they have had a bad streak of short term memory loss."

Some time later, the rest of the Council came, as well as some additional members: a few Bulborbs, some Water Dumples and an Anode Beetle or two. Most of the council meetings were based on sightings of awkward events occurring, like bridges coming out of nowhere and walls being mysteriously torn down. We'd issue the Sheargrubs to tear down these bridges but they never return. Will this meeting be like the others?

From the ground in the center rose four legs. After which, a body covered in objects that shined in the light of the HQ. His presence alerted us that he arrived. Him, the highest rank, the Titan Dweevil. His mighty legs stood tall above the center of the room and was preparing to begin the meeting.

"Welcome all of you," he greeted in his king-like voice, "I'm glad that all of you have been accounted for. It is unfortunate that three of our members could not make it today and never will again. Let us reminiscence on the death of Empress Bulblax of Hole of Beasts, Burrowing Snagret of White Flower Garden, and Beady Long Legs of Citadel of Spiders."

"Who made you the priest of animals?" Segmented Crawbster said out loud.

"Ah, you do have a point. Well, on to the meeting. Our first subject is the so-called revival of the pikmin battalion."

"They really are back, y'know," Ranging Bloyster said, "I have reasons to believe that they aim to wipe us out."

"Don't forget the Onion factor," the Pileated Snagret claimed, "Onions don't go underground and members of the Land Council hold the most nutrition. I believe they are simply repopulating their numbers."

"Then can you explain the death of the Burrowing Snagret of White flower Garden?" Emperor Bulblax of Hole of Heroes said, "If they wanted a Snagret, they could get one from the Valley of Repose."

"Um, everyone?" I asked out loud, catching everyone's attention, "speaking of whom, _is_ he here?"

With this in notice, everyone began looking around for the Snagret of Valley of Repose.

"Is Burrowing Snagret of Valley of Repose present?" Titan Dweevil announced.

With no response, the Titan tried again. After the third time, he made a conclusion.

"He must be late. He _did_ say there would be no delays for his arrival, right?" the Dweevil said to the Antennae Beetle from yesterday.

"Absolutely. I heard him myself so what could possibly uphold him?"

"On my way to the meeting," I announced, making myself known, "the water that was near the snow mound where the Snagret lived had been drained. As well as the bridge that had appeared. There was a small ditch in the water that, if destroyed could drain the lake so I'm guessing it was the pikmins' doing."

"With the water drained, all pikmin have access to that area," the Titan Dweevil whispered to himself, though not loud enough for us not to hear.

"Man-at-Legs, with the water drained and a bridge built, they have access to your hole. I think they may be targeting you next," Land Council member Pileated Snagret told me.

It was a logical statement. The pikmin seemed prepared to take me down. But then again, they do have no idea of what I am exactly and what I'm capable of. But I don't want my machine half to go hostile, even if the target were pikmin. I'll just call it a self-defense statement and say they were coming right for me. But it's the thought that they want to kill me is what bothers me. They'll probably get me in my sleep, which is my most vulnerable state. I probably should analyze and review the information about pikmin to prepare myself.

"But then again, they could also be heading to the Frontier Cavern, but no one has claimed that hole yet," Waterwraith said.

"I guess now would be a good time to introduce our recent member," Titan Dweevil said motioning someone to come forward.

From a small area came a Red Bulborb, but this one had a swelling abdomen bigger than my body. I wondered how it was able to hold that girth.

"This here is the new breeder for the Bulborb tribe since the last one suffered at the hands of the pikmin. The new Empress Bulblax, or maybe Bulblax Duchess," Titan Dweevil said.

"Why did you choose her?" Raging Long Legs said, "She's barely at maturation."

"Because she has an interesting story. Tell them Bulblax Duchess."

"When I was born, the Empress wasn't present. Only some of the embryo survived and I had to feed off of my deceased brothers and sisters. It was there that the Burrowing Snagret, of White Flower Garden if I recall, that motivated me to become the next Empress Bulblax."

"You saw the Burrowing Snagret before he was reported dead?" Segmented Crawbster said, "When?"

"…a couple of days ago."

"This is bad news," Titan Dweevil said, "The pikmin are working faster than we expected. They killed off three of our members in less than four days. At this rate, they may have enough pikmin to overthrow the Land Council."

"I thought you said this was a 'so-called revival' of the pikmin rebellion," Emperor Bulblax claimed.

"Well, now I'm beginning to have doubts. But our objective is still the same."

"To kill off the pikmin race and stop the Rebellion?" Raging Long Legs asked.

"No. We will simply…do nothing."

"WHAT?! Thousands of our tribe members could be killed if we don't do anything and you want us to do nothing?!" Segmented Crawbster yelled.

"Two of my brothers are dead because of the pikmin. How do you expect me to do nothing about it?!" the Pileated Snagret claimed.

The entire room was in an outrage. Everyone, including the smaller animals, were yelling questions of inevitable truth and demands. I was an exception though, as I waited until the crowd had silenced so I could think straight. The Titan Dweevil, on the other hand, began to look annoyed, and angry! You don't make a Titan Dweevil angry, nor do you disobey one.

"Everyone…" the Titan Dweevil said; his voice unheard to the raging crowd of displeased leaders.

"Quiet…all of you…" he said again, once again, being ignored by the angry animals.

"I said…" he said, pulling out a purple sphere with pipes protruding from it, "ORDER! ORDER!"

He pressed the ball onto the ground that spewed a nauseating gas that swirled around the room. The crowd responded by coughing uncontrollably, some looking like they had trouble breathing, as they choked to a near-death factor.

He was killing them.

After a few seconds, he released the ball and stopped the poisonous gas from flowing. The poison aired out pretty quickly enabling some of the oxygen breathers to gasp for air. Apparently, the Titan Dweevil got ticked and used the Comedy Bomb to catch their attention. But did he have to use it? Why not the Monster Pump? I guess he is the ruthless titan he was rumored to be.

"Now that I have your attention, let me make this clear," Titan said, receiving a few growls and murmurs from the crowd, "the pikmin threat is really nothing to worry about."

"Now you say there's nothing to worry about?" Emperor Bulblax exclaimed, "Make up your damn mind already!"

"You should know I'm in constant theorem. These pikmin are not a real threat but they should be watched carefully. If anything were to happen, contact us immediately and send in all the information you know."

I must say, he is very unpredictable. It's almost impossible to tell what's going on inside his mind. It's possibly because it's a way to prevent his enemies from predicting his movements in battle. The more and more I think about it, he really is a fitting ruler of LCHQ.

"Now, back onto the subject. These pikmin are proving to be real pests. What they do normally is a nuisance to us. Burrowing Snagret, dweller of Valley of Repose, has obviously been murdered by the pikmin. But this has no impact on us, except probably the Snavian tribe."

"Of course it is!" Pileated Snagret said out loud, "you think I'm gonna let one death slide by me?"

"Now, now, your tribe is the most populated above us, with the exception of the Bulborb tribe. Speaking of which, I entrust the Bulblax Duchess as the dweller of the Frontier Cavern. Man-at-Legs, I entrust you to escort her highness to the cavern personally, since both of your caverns are closer than anyone else's."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Ranging Bloyster said.

"Ah yes. Have the Anode Beetles successfully assassinated the Giant Breadbug?" Titan asked two Anode Beetles who stood by the two Prince Bulblax's.

"Um…well, the thing is…" one stuttered.

"You did kill him, _did_ you?" Titan asked.

"Well he _is_ dead, it's just that, we didn't assassinate him."

"What? What happened?" Titan asked.

"See, our mission was interrupted by pikmin. They came in unexpectedly and began killing the Anode Beetles. They used our corpses as decoys to lure the Breadbugs into their own demise by crushing them against the floor."

"Did the Giant Breadbug die this way too?"

"Yes. We managed to escape but the rest have been killed."

"Hmm, interesting. Very well, you've served your purpose. Have the Antennae Beetle confirm Giant Breadbugs' assassination to the Toady Bloyster."

"He's dead," Ranging Bloyster said, "the pikmin got to him too."

"…and another one bites the dust. Is there an animal that _isn't_ safe from the pikmin? These pikmin may be more troublesome than I thought…"

I simply stood still and looked over to Raging Long Legs, still wondering of what he wanted me for.

The meeting had ended soon with the confirmation of Waterwraith's plans for the future. The Bulblax Duchess had walked over to me as soon as the meeting ended waiting to be escorted to her new cave. I couldn't leave without talking to Raging Long Legs first so I decided not to care if the Bulblax Duchess was interested or not. Raging Long Legs had yet to leave so I decided to ask him about what he wanted before I left too.

"So, you wanted talk to me?" I asked him.

"Ah, yes. Man-at-Legs, as your older brother, I know you have a soft side for others," he told me in a way I've never heard him talk before, "I can accept your soft spot for animals alike, but you need to make an exception to the pikmin."

"You're not gonna talk me into another one of those scandals of yours, are you?"

"Of course not. But seriously, I too have reasons to believe the pikmin aim to take us out. In fact, I got worried when I heard about the bridge appearing and the water being drained."

"You, worried about me? What has this world come to?" I said sarcastically.

"This is a serious matter Man-at-Legs. The pikmin do have the power to take down someone like you. But you have a lot of power inside you and you need to use it."

"But…I can't. I'm not meant to be a machine."

"I know you didn't want this, but think of it as a blessing. If it weren't for this machinery, where would you be now?"

"…you have a point. But to use it against defenseless pikmin?"

"These pikmin use their minds against us. Their learning us; analyzing our traits and habitats like some freak computer capable of observing at maximum speed."

"I find that offensive."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. But don't forget: they can and will attack you. Don't be afraid to fight back, even if you go against a vow. Do not forget the power of your body."

"……"

His words had me thinking like I never thought before. As I escorted the Bulblax Duchess to the Frontier Cavern, I thought about using my body to attack such tiny creatures as pikmin. It is true that their numbers put together can be fearsome, but am I actually going to kill something as miniscule as a pikmin? I wonder how it feels, to kill in the name of defense. Is it right? Is it evil? Is it really worth it? Is my life really worth it? Then again, I wouldn't mind being rid of this accursed machine of me. Maybe I should just…lie still and let the pikmin do away with me…

"Is this it? Is this the Frontier Cavern?" Bulblax Duchess asked me.

I didn't realize that we had already arrived at the cave. I guess I was simply lost in thought. I hope the Duchess didn't notice.

"Well, I best be making my way now before I get even bigger. See ya later Man-at-Logs," she said as she went down the cave.

Huh, she mispronounced my name. Man-at-Logs…

Hope there is a next time…

It was already night and my battery cartridge was already responding to the moon's presence. It was preparing to shut down meaning I had to get back to my hole quick. If my battery were to shut down I'd be completely motionless, so I hurried my way to the Subterranean Complex for a goodnight sleep. I made it in time as my battery shut down. I nestled in the center of my room were the creatures fear to enter, daring not to leave any droppings that I would find offensive; I don't even have a nose so…

_Is this some kind of arena?_

_What's that in the center?_

_Large, widely noticeable…_

_Does this mean we're gonna die? _

_We won't die as long as we believe in Leader Olimar! _

_Yeah! Everyone! Charge!_

I had forgotten to set the alarm for my waking so now I was probably asleep until noon. I don't know how I managed to wake up since if I didn't set the alarm I'd be asleep until night. Although, it doesn't take much to wake up a Man-at-Legs. Even a slight tap can wake up a Man-at-Legs.

_Tap!_

Yeah, something like that.

_Tap! Tap!_

And now I'm awake.

_Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!_

But what is-

_Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! _

What's going on?

It was obvious that something was pulverizing my metal hull. I could feel that there were a lot of them surrounding me. If only I could get and get a good analyze of what is attacking me…

I blew steam out of the pipes that surrounded my body to blow off the creatures that were assaulting me. I used my mechanical leg to lift me off the ground, since my other legs weren't strong enough, even when there strength was combined. As soon as I got up, I recognized the tiny plant-animal hybrids that I so-dearly didn't want to see. Along with an awkward signal coming from two of them, I could sense their vital systems running through their tiny fragile bodies. It was them, the pikmin, who have come for me.

They began jumping onto my body and pounded away at my body penetrating me with damage. I wanted to run but there were too many of them, but I still tried. They missed sometimes and a weird whistle would be heard after but they'd resume jumping on me again. I wanted them to stop but I knew it would be meaningless. If only they would stop attacking…

My body began got paralyzed. Steam blew out of my pipes as my bottom hull opened. A cylinder scope rose from the fleshy insides that were my intestines. I had no control of my motions as my mind went blank for a few seconds…

_Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!_

I regained consciousness some time after. The machine gun retreated back within me to prevent its over-usage. I feared for the pikmin that might've gotten caught in the gunfire. Even though they were the ones attacking me, they died of a horrible merciless death because of me. Even though I'm safe and defended myself, I feel sorry for the pikmin who suffered by my bullets. But what did they want from me?

Suddenly, the pikmin latched onto me again. I was surprised to see that they all survived my machine gun's assault since it had a lock-on feature. But, how did they avoid it? Not a single animal is capable of avoiding, if not surviving, my weapon's gunfire. These pikmin can't think for themselves…so who was thinking for them?

I realized that I had no choice but to use my machine gun again. If I activate it manually, then I keep my conscious and shoot manually. I remembered what Raging Long Legs told me: don't be afraid of my power. If anytime, I'd have to use it now. Enemy has huddled together. No time for second thoughts. Target locked on…

_Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! _

…no way…

…none of them sufficed…

…they survived the shots…

I'm in trouble now. These pikmin must have some kind of protective armor that…no, that's inconclusive. Maybe they absorbed the shots and…no, that's non-theoretical either. Argh! What's with these pikmin?! How could they have the power to withstand something as powerful as my weapon fire?! It's…it's…a NUISANCE!

They began to attack my body again. They managed to dent the hull of my body and began to strike my internal battery core. NO! If they break that, the photons discharge and my body… NO! They pierced through the hull! The battery is leaking! The photon chargers are shot! My hydraulics have detonated! What's…happening?

The hydraulic tubes in my legs blew up. My mechanical leg fell apart. The photon battery mixed with the other chemicals within my body, causing it to glow through the cracks of my broken body. I only had a few seconds before the photons discharged and my body disintegrated in a cataclysmic explosion. All that was left was an oversized battery bulb that served no real purpose.

How did it happen? How did they overthrow a machine like me? They can't outsmart a machine, only exploit its weakness. So what did they exploit? I died by their hands that killed the four members of the Land Council. Raging Long Legs, and a Beady Long Legs as well as another Man-at-Legs, are the only ones left. If only I stood a chance…

But…it was my wish. I wanted to be rid of my machine half and live like a normal Arachnorb. Did these pikmin intentionally save me? Was death the only option to rid me of this curse? It was understandable. It was a logical statement. It was a prayer answered.

To die in their name is dying with no wishes left.

You know, it gets _really_ tough to think of lines that start with _'to die in their name'_. I'm full of originality and all, but when you have to stick to an important piece of story plot, you start to get dry. Anyways, on to the new ballot!

Remember folks, only one choice, that way, it'd be easier to count the votes.

A) Emperor Bulblax

B) Pileated Snagret

C) Ranging Bloyster

D) Waterwraith

E) Empress Bulblax II

R&R!


	6. Fate of the Waterwraith

_Completely ignoring the fact that I put this on an extremely long hiatus and continuing hiatus. _

Well, by popular…decisive…ok, so nobody likes Waterwraith. For all those who've really waited for this chapter, I'll make the Waterwraith die REAL painfully.

Fate of the Waterwraith.

Titan Dweevil…

Who died and made you the boss?

Titan Dweevil doesn't have the brains or the power to be ruler of the Land Council, but by some twisted chance, he is. I bet he doesn't know how to think straight. The only reason he is the leader is simply because he possesses four very dangerous weapons. It makes no sense how he utilizes those weapons against us, let alone how he learned to use them. Either way, those weapons are dangerous to us; each of his weapons are effective against all of the members of the council. You don't question the orders of the Titan Dweevil, but you can question his intelligence quotient. Of course, I would never say this in front of him. That Shock Therapist does more than mentally cure me.

However, I have found a way over the Shock Therapist. The electric drones activate after they've been set on the ground. But if I wasn't on the ground and yet, still on it…

"Waterwraith, we've been at this for three days now. Are you really sure we're doing this the right way?" the blowhog asked me.

"You wouldn't dare to slack off if that concerns you, would it?" I asked.

"N-No sir. It's just that, you want these rocks to be cylindrical, but we aren't sure if we're making progress."

At first, they started as cubical stones. But with enough water pressure aimed at the right portions, the stone will wear away into the shape I favor. Just a little more water, than buffer the stones to make it smoother. A Man-at-Legs can teach you a lot; I ought to thank him next meeting.

"Waterwraith?" a wollywog spoke to me.

I turned around to a ghastly white wollywog looking at me.

"What do you want? I'm busy here," I answered.

"An antennae beetle is waiting outside. He has a message for you."

"Very well," I said as I made my way to the exit. But then I remembered, "And don't you dare slack off when I'm gone! The water dumples have their eyes on you!" I roared toward the slaving Water blowhogs.

Somehow I feel that entrusting the Water Dumples as watch guards is a bad idea.

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"Alright, what do you want?" I said uncaringly.

"Mr. Waterwraith, I have a message from the Land Council. They request that you-"

"Wait. Did you just call me, Mr.?" I asked.

"…is there anything wrong with-"

I didn't wait for him to finish the sentence as I grabbed the bug by his head and lifted him up.

"Yes. I am never wrong, and calling me Mr. is wrong, very, very wrong," I said as I started applying pressure, "You interrupted me in the middle of something important. That's already two strikes for you."

"Waterwraith, sir, please restrain yourself!" the wollywog to the side of me said in a fit of fear, "You know it's against the law to murder Antennae Beetles!"

Looking at the Wollywog, then at the struggling Antennae Beetle, I dropped the bug on the ground as it scurried out of the water and onto solid ground.

"…huff…huff…as I was saying…" he said. Sure, he may sound fine, but I know that's trauma dripping out of his voice. "The Land Council requests you to come to the next meeting as soon as the sun sets."

Another meeting? Damn, must we get worked up over every little thing? Wait, recently the meetings are about the pikmin and who they killed.

"So who died this time?" I asked.

"…they intended on telling you who at the meeting, but, seeing as you may already have an idea… Well, the Man-at-Legs was next on their hit list. We sent some Careening Dirigibugs to investigate and they have reported pieces of metal scattered across his floor room. We can only assume that the worst has come to him."

Well, I guess I won't be thanking him then.

"Hm, so, the meeting is at sunset?"

"Yes. No later than that."

"Very well. I will be there. Back to the cave wollywog. And tell those Blowhogs they now have until sunset to finish the rock."

"But sir, sunset is a few hours from now. They can't possibly finish the rock in time," the wollywog spoke to me.

I merely smirked.

"Then tell them their lives depend on the completion of my rock."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, is my rock finished?" I asked.

I was impressed by the workmanship of these blowhogs. Two perfectly cylindrical rocks that had real rolling potential, just what I wanted.

"We've been working real hard on this Waterwraith," a blowhog says to me, "we're dehydrated."

I walked toward the two rocks and inspected them carefully, seeing that they would not move if they had been tapped. I wasn't really sure if they were rolling capable, I mean, I did trust some watery blowhogs to get this done for me. Perhaps they _can_ roll but are just too heavy. At least I'll be the only one able to move them.

"Are you pleased Waterwraith?" a blowhog asked me.

I paid no mind to him as I got on top of the rocks. Slipping my limbs into the designated holes I had drilled prior to the rocks finalization, I lifted the front rock high above me and smashed it against the floor. The blowhogs looked at me in fear and surprise. There hard work could've been demolished right before their eyes, but there's a reason I chose this rock out of other rocks. It was extremely durable, could barely break, and was only damaged by high pressured water. This was my kind of toy.

Without warning I began rolling the cylindrical stones. I needed to practice rolling these stones so that there would be no accidents.

"Waterwraith, what are you doing!?" a blowhog yelled as I rolled over it.

When I meant accidents, I meant mistakes that hurt me. Blowhogs are disposable anyways.

I looked at the mass of water that squeezed out of the blowhog I crushed. I merely squinted at the other blowhogs that got out of the way.

I hate liars.

"Waterwraith! Have mercy!"

Without a word, I made my course directed at the blowhogs. I needed some target practice should a bug make me mad while I'm on my ride. A blowhog turned around a corner and I followed, getting the turns right on the first try. It was a dead end for the blowhog and I crushed it with no more than a yawn. The dead end was no problem either. I let go of the rocks, completely turned around and reinserted my limbs back into the holes. I moved out of the dead end and made my way to the other blowhogs.

"Please Master Waterwraith! Please let us live!" the blowhogs yell.

All I did was roll.

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"Waterwraith, you're here a bit early," Ranging Bloyster says to me.

"I was just curious about the new plans Titan Dweevil might've thought," I lied. I could care less about what the Titan Dweevil thinks, if he is capable of thinking. That no-good brainless spider can never be the boss of me.

Of course, he's not completely the boss of me. I am 3rd ranked in the Land Council, with Raging Long Legs being 2nd and Titan Dweevil the 1st. For a while, Pileated Snagret was ranked 4th but when the King's son began working a bit harder, he was bumped up a level much to the Pileated Snagret's disappointment. Now, it's: Emperor Bulblax as 4th and Pileated Snagret down as the 5th. But I'm sure the ranks will change once I show them my new rollers, which I didn't bring to the Naval.

I noticed that Raging Long Legs arrived a bit later than before. He moved slowly, well, slower than usual, toward his spot in the Naval. It was a few minutes before the meeting would began and I guess I ought to ask him what was wrong (I was curious, not concerned).

"You seem a bit down. So what's wrong this time?" I asked.

The Long Legs only looked at me sternly, which conflicted with the laws of science and reality itself.

"Man-at-Legs…he was killed by the pikmin…" he said.

"So? How does Man-at-Leg's existence mean to you?"

"I don't want to hear it Waterwraith. I know how insensitive you can be, but say such things to me."

"What? Growing a little soft?" I asked.

As quick as thunder, the purple arachnorb raised its foot and slammed it hard into the ground in front of me. The stomp, which felt more like an earthquake, shook me and my watery body down to the floor. I felt my composition go out of order and I almost lost my form! I slowly started to think maybe I ought to crawl away, but I shook that thought out of my head.

I forgot why he was a rank above me.

"Don't screw with me Waterwraith. I'm having mixed feelings since Man-at-Legs death and I'm not in the mood to deal with your bulldoodle."

And with that, he stomped away.

Wow, had no idea I was pressing the wrong button. Perhaps through the invention of my rollers I had such a hearty mood that I had forgotten to distance myself from the Raging Long Legs. Well, now I'm sure I'll never make THAT mistake again.

Then, from the center of the area, rose one leg, followed by another leg then two more came out. The Titan Dweevil eroded out of the ground and stood gloriously in his spot, shining bright because of the weapons he was holding. If I had eyes, retina and iris, they would only be blinded by that ridiculous sheen.

"I apologize for having second meeting so soon. I'm sure some of you were busy," the Titan said sympathetically, "But something unthinkable has happened."

"The Great Emperor is back?" the Ranging Bloyster said.

Everyone, even I, stared at the almost seemingly idiotic slug that spoke. Feeling our stares, the Bloyster looked back and forth as if he _didn't_ expect the stare down.

"What?" he asked, "He said 'unthinkable'."

"Too unthinkable. In fact, the Man-at-Legs, Raging Long Legs dear brother, has been reported dead," at this, many of the creatures gasped at this.

It was already old news for me. Although I didn't think it was possible, it was something unthinkable. I only prayed that there was more to this meeting than just the machines death.

"There's no way the pikmin could've done that," the Ranging Bloyster said, "Man-at-Legs is a very potent killing machine. Man-at-Legs victory is the only possible outcome."

"The fact that the pikmin have killed Man-at-Legs means they have the potency to kill the rest of the Land Council if we're not careful," the Titan said.

"I would not like to believe that the pikmin barely struggled to defeat Man-at-Legs," a prince Bulblax spoke, "but out of possibility, the pikmin population had to have dropped severely, wouldn't it?"

"That is true. Considering that they would have to spend a day to repopulate, they wouldn't do so at the Valley of Repose. They had just cleaned most of the area of wildlife before venturing into Man-at-Legs cavern so they would start their repopulation somewhere else. But where?"

"The only areas left for repopulation is Awakening Wood and Perplexing Pool. Since both areas have only two caves left, there's a fifty percent chance they'll venture into either area," The Pileated Snagret of Snagret Hole said, "and with two caves left to explore, there's a twenty five percent chance they'll invade my hole."

"Or mine," the Prince Bulblax of Bulblax Kingdom said.

"Or mine as well," the Ranging Bloyster of Shower Room said.

"Then there's my hole," I spoke, not wanting to feel left out.

"Calculations alone won't guarantee your safety. In fact, don't count out the important factors either," the Titan Dweevil said, "Snagret Hole is guarded by a Snagret right? Surely that wouldn't be the first choice from the start."

"True, plus, I made sure to pick a tenacious Snagret for guard duty," the Pileated Snagret said.

"Bulblax Kingdom is blocked by an electric gate. Plus, it is very hard to get to that cave since the main path is blocked by undrainable water."

"I guess I shouldn't be as worried," the Prince Bulblax said.

"The Shower Room is also blocked by an electric gate. And it's on the other side of a wide lake as well."

"My hole is the safest then," Ranging Bloyster said with a hint of glee.

"And then there's Waterwraith. Which is blocked by… actually yours is easier to get to."

"Huh? What're you talking about?" I asked.

"Well, disregarding the Wollywogs and Crawmads that hazard the path, the only real obstacle is a wooden gate. I suggest putting in a few dumples to make the path harder."

"Just so you know, the only pikmin that can make it are blue pikmin, and I'm not dumb enough to fill my cave with nothing but water."

"Really? Do you have a brain to prove it? Because I don't see one," the Titan said to me.

"And I don't see your brain either Titan."

"Because it's in a very vital place called a head. We can see through you Waterwraith, but why can't we see a brain? Hmm?"

I was getting pissed.

"Like it or not Titan, I have nothing to fear," I said as I walked close to the Titan, "Excluding me, everyone here has a weakness, including you."

"So can you explain why you are you ranked 3rd out of the 5 of us?" he asked.

I didn't have an answer for that. But I didn't talk. I simply backed down a bit before regaining my composure.

"Just so you know I can always bump myself high than you in rank. In fact, I've developed a weapon myself that'll make me all the more powerful," I said triumphantly as the creatures around me, excluding the Titan, began to whisper in wonder.

"Oh have you now?" the Titan Dweevil asked, half interested and half sarcastically, from what I can tell, "Then why don't you show it to us?"

"Unfortunately, I don't have it at the moment, but next meeting, be prepared to witness the most incredible juggernaut since Man-at-Legs!"

"We'll be waiting," the Titan Dweevil said, almost challengingly, "incidentally, with the Giant Breadbug gone, we have no reason to store the sugar food in your cavern."

I almost forgot about those.

Before, The Giant Breadbug and his family of grotesque eaters wouldn't bother to serve us. So we needed some persuasion in order to get their loyalty. We gave them promises of mass amounts of food should they serve us right, but fear was a better persuasion. We would tell them stories about the Land Council's ruthlessness and their reign of superiority with horrific details. Should it not affect them, food can also change a breadbug's mind too. We needed a place to store them and my cave was chosen. I didn't mind either, I could not eat anyways but it seemed to bother the residents of the cave. Now that I think about it, what ARE we gonna do about them?

"There is only one thing we can do with them," the Titan said, "We'll have to feed them to the Empress Bulblax of Frontier Cavern."

"But, Titan, the distance between Perplexing Pool and Valley of Repose is frighteningly far. Who'll be able to lift the items that far?" The Pileated Snagret asked.

"You are forgetting what Dweevils are good at. I'll order a squad of Anode Dweevils to fetch the sweets from your cavern tomorrow morning. It may take a couple of hours, but expect them before noon Waterwraith. And with that, meeting adjourned."

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I made my way to my cave over to the far side of the Perplexing Pool. The meeting was long, seeing the moon in the middle of the sky made me think that. My walk from the Forest Naval was quite long as well, I probably should've taken my rollers now that I think about it.

As I entered my hole, I noticed the resident Bulbmin venturing in my cave searching for food. What little runts. Usually, I would run up to them and began thwacking my watery arms at them. It really is fun when they scurry and run in fear of me. But the most entertaining aspect of it is that the parent would eat a kid I unintentionally killed. That was survival of the fittest at its work. Of course, if there was a contest about that, I would be the top contender. There's also the 'kill or be killed' philosophy, but since I can't be killed, I might as well kill.

However, I didn't bother with the Bulbmin this time. Instead, I felt like sparing them 'til tomorrow so I can practice my rollers on them. Speak of the devil, my rollers were right in front of me. I guess I had forgotten to move them earlier. I guess it was too late now since I was too tired to move them down to the last floor. I decided to move them to a different part of the cave so that I can sleep near them. As soon as I found a decent spot, I quickly fell asleep.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"_Ack! Fire!"_

"_Ack! Electricity!"_

"_Ack! Poison!"_

"_Ack! Stuff!"_

"_We probably should've brought others with us…"_

"_We'll need some serious help if we want to make it out alive!" _

Are they already here?

It was the right time. Looking around the cavern, some of the sweets have already been moved. I guess I had to stay and watch them move the sweets out of my cave. Wait…what's going on? A Dweevil is walking away from a sweet…and it's moving. Looking closer, I saw ant-like creatures scurrying away with the food. As I watched, the sweet was moved under a red triangular object and disappeared. I then realized what they were… pikmin… small… fragile… targets…

FYOOOOO!

BOOM!

FYOO!

BOOM!

GLOP!

I roared my best roar, announcing my presence to all who had trespassed into my cave.

"WHAT IS THAT THING?!" was what I heard, "I can see it with my ocular sensors but I cannot detect it with my motion sensors. Is its true affixed in a different direction? KRZZT! BRZZZZ! Danger! Danger! Danger! Attacking it is futile!"

Just who was talking?

I wasted no time as I decided to start moving in search of the pikmin. It wasn't long before I found them, all scrunched together. It was high time they learned the true meaning of fear and what comes of it, the pikmin and the two weird pikmin as well.

I roared as I charged at the pikmin, very intent on crushing them. All of a sudden, the unthinkable happens. The pikmin, each and every one of them, swarmed against the wall as I rolled by. I had no idea the pikmin could think like that. It was unexplainable. I could turn around either. The ceiling was too low for me to make my 180 turn and the pikmin were already making their escape. I turned around as soon as I was able to, but to my disappointment the pikmin had already escaped down a hole. If I was going to follow them, I might have to use my nonexistent muscles…

It took me about five minutes before I managed to drop to the next floor. This time I was gonna do it. And to motivate myself, I lifted the front rock and slammed it onto the ground roaring. I went around rolling in search of the pikmin and found them soon enough. It was me and the pikmin, and the only thing standing between us was a spiraling mound of sugar laden bakery. Completely ignoring the sweet in front of me, I rolled forward over the sweet and not on the pikmin. I cursed to myself as I saw the pikmin swarm against the wall again. Their knowledge wasn't obviously by chance. And those guys are dumb as dumb can be. I wasn't able to turn around instantly again because of the low ceiling and my U-turn space was limited. I could do nothing but take a completely different route. In a matter of minutes I caught the pikmin smashing away at a rock. I didn't know why they were smashing a rock at all but the instant it broke away revealing a hole down the next level they jumped in.

I was frustrated at their attempts of running away. Going deeper in my cave will only get them killed by me. But their efforts are certainly admiring. Not many animals have lived long on the chase from me. This time though, I'll catch them. I'll get ahead of them to the final floor where I sleep. They won't be able to defeat me there. Hell, why should defeat be the majority of my worries? I can't be killed!

…

…

…

Whew, that took a while.

I saw them below, looking around my arena. These pikmin must have a death wish. Very well then. If they are waiting for me and death, then I shall come first, death will come later.

I dropped both rocks accurately on the ground, myself following afterwards. Both rocks landed perfectly together as I landed on them. Face to face with the pikmin, I lifted the rock in front of me and slammed it into the ground. At the moment, I felt that this was my time, time for me to be the ultimate killing machine.

"I AM WATERWRAITH!" I yelled.

This felt so good. The ability to kill without being killed, to strike fear and strife into the hearts of those who see me, to have done such wrong without ever being righted, only I can have such blessings! All who oppose me, all who detest me, you all deserve to die! You all deserve to-

BOOM!

AAARRGGHHH! What…what the hell?! My body…it has completely solidified! No! They're jumping on me. They're pounding their stems at me. They're hurting me! No! You can't hurt a Waterwraith! I can't feel pain! I'm not supposed to!

I wanted them to stop but I could do nothing but shiver in fear as they continued pounding away at me. Was I afraid? No! I'm not supposed to be afraid! GET OFF OF ME!

I flailed my arms out painfully. Moving hurts! Why does it hurt?! They kept throwing more pikmin at me. And they didn't want to stop. I was in so much pain I forcefully flailed my arms out again and threw them off. Oh god, all those days of torture the innocent, all those days mercilessly hurting the ones that had a life… this was karma times a hundred!!

More pikmin were on me again. They kept beating me and beating me. Please…stop, I beg of you… NOO!!!

I sort of flailed too hard. I forgot to let go of the stones and accidentally pulled them apart into pieces. Crap! The overworked blowhogs were probably laughing at me right now. No, I can't die, I don't want to die. Please, leave me ALONE!

I had no other choice, I had to run. I had to run, must keep running, running away from the monsters that will kill me, slowing down, went back to running, then stop. I was using too much energy in running and I had to stop to breath.

BOOM!

Oh no! That accursed sound! I froze once again, on my knees this time, as the pikmin jumped on me and began to beat me. I didn't want to die! Please don't kill me! I would beg and beg and flail a bit, then beg some more, but the true murderers were the pikmin. With my strength draining away, I could only beg for mercy.

"Please! I beg of you, let me live! I'm sorry for all the innocent I killed! I'm sorry! I really am! Please! I promise I will never harm another animal for my own amusement! Please! Spare me! For the love of god! HELP MEEE!!!!!"

I screamed my last scream.

Internally, my structure was deteriorating, droplets of my purple form jutted out of me, followed by a painful boom from within. I lay on my back as I waited for the hand of death. I came first, death came for me later.

BOOM!

For so long I amused myself in making others turn white at the sight of me. For so long I wanted creatures to learn what is fear between the line of predator and prey. For so long, making others fear me made me feel powerful and I thought I was. But, in the last moments of my life I knew what fear was. Fear, for me, is a full circle slap in the face since I died in their name. I died to something unexpected as pikmin. I wonder what I died in their name for…

To die in their name is dieing on the other end of fear.

Phew! Took a while. Anyways, the voting is going to be a bit limited now. Usually after a chapter is done, I include a new ballet up for vote, but for the sake of the story, it will come down to four possible options. They are:

A) Emperor Bulblax

B) Pileated Snagret

C) Ranging Bloyster

D) Empress Bulblax II

Remember, one vote now. R & R & V (vote)!


	7. Fate of the Ranging Bloyster

Poll

Emperor Bulbax: 4

Pileated Snagret: 3

Ranging Bloyster: 2

Empress Bulblax: 4

Emperor and Empress Bulblax are both tied for the vote. So instead of having the two fight to the near death (don't want them killing each other, they would die anyway), I'll just choose the one with the least votes. Yay! The slug gets to die! … erhem!

I've taken it upon myself to replay Pikmin 2 and I just realized that I sort of overpowered the pikmin a little bit. Well, now that I think about it, I wouldn't have wanted to do a three page essay on what a bug would think before it was killed, so I shall do the same here.

This is where things start to get fun.

Fate of the Ranging Bloyster

I want to see Waterwraith's secret weapon he was talking about.

There's never been that much tension in a meeting.

Waterwraith managed to astound us all in the last meeting. For the first time in awhile, he was the main focus of the meeting. And not just because he was calling Titan Dweevil out. Waterwraith has always been the violent one in the Land Council HQ, aside from Segmented Crawbster. It's just that his actions finally took notice and he sounded pretty sure of himself when he mentioned his secret weapon. It's always rough tension between Waterwraith and Titan Dweevil for various reasons. One, Titan has the most dangerous attacks out of all the members of the Land Council. That already nets him 1st place in the Land Council. Two, nobody knows Waterwraith's weakness. On the day he was accepted, he was given a test to demonstrate his abilities. He had no attacks, but all of our attacks did nothing to him (it was required that we attack him to test his reaction and skill). If the Titan Dweevil had seen Waterwraith as he is now, I'm pretty sure he would've given that a second thought. He does almost nothing for the Land Council.

Still though, if what Waterwraith says is true, maybe we do have reason to fear…

Well, it's morning now. Better get out there and wait for the next meeting.

"Ranging Bloyster! Sir!" an antennae beetle was calling out to me.

I had just crawled out of my hole when I noticed the Antennae beetle hopping like crazy towards me.

"Calm down man," I said, "I have all day."

"Sir Ranging Bloyster! I have urgent news. You must report to the Land Council meeting at once!" he practically yelled.

"Another one?" I whined, "We just had one yesterday! And the day before! And the day before as well! What could possibly make this one more important than your frantic jumping make it seem?"

"Ranging Bloyster. Waterwraith has been reported dead!" he said.

Dead? Waterwraith? A Land Council member? Dead? Waterwraith?

"Is everybody reporting to the meeting now?" I asked.

"Yes. Everyone is heading towards the Forest Navel as we speak. This is a command from Titan Dweevil himself. You can't object."

Titan Dweevil has commanded this meeting. I highly doubt that it's because he wants to know who killed Waterwraith. That would've exposed affection, and there are many things wrong with that picture. But I can imagine if Titan Dweevil wants to discuss the position of the Land Council members since one has been exterminated. I'd be lucky if I got a spot. Doubt it.

--

"Titan Dweevil, is what you say is true?" the Pileated Snagret asked.

"Do you know how screwed we are if the pikmin could do that?!" a bulborb in the back yelled.

"There is no doubt that we are all disturbed by these news," Titan Dweevil said as he looked at the spot where Waterwraith used to sit himself, "but this is a sign as to how powerful the pikmin are."

"You were the one who said the pikmin are a little threat! I mean, how could the pikmin have found out his weakness?" the Emperor Bulblax of Bulblax kingdom exclaimed, "if the pikmin had access to this kind of information, they might learn how to take YOU down Titan Dweevil!"

Titan Dweevil didn't seem fazed by this. Instead, he seemed to think more.

"Man at Legs of Hole of Heroes, come forth," he said, as the mechanical arachnorb walked into the moonlight.

"Proclaim your report. What have you found?"

"Well, Titan Dweevil, the Waterwraith sure are an interesting species, I must say," the Man-at-Legs said in a somewhat nerdy fashion, "firstly, the physical form you see him walking around in is actually a thick film of plankton, all chained together in molecular links. The plankton is very small and the water refracts the light so you don't see the plankton. In general, the Waterwraith is actually a bag full of water."

"What does that have to do with how he died?" the Dweevil asked.

"Good question. The plankton, over generations, has grown an immunity to many ailments and substances except for one."

"Like?"

"A rare form of fiber and protein that can only be found in one animal: Purple Pikmin."

"Are you kidding me?" Emperor Bulblax exclaimed.

"I thought the submerged castle could only be accessed by the blue pikmin?" Pileated Snagret said.

Followed by shocked remarks concerning the key element to defeating Waterwraith.

"Yes, Purple pikmin. I do not know how purple pikmin got into Submerged Castle nor do I care. What I do know is that the dust released from a thrown purple pikmin causes an allergic reaction to the plankton on Waterwraith's surface. It's like every skin cell, or exoskeleton to some of you, is ripping itself off of your skin." Many of the council members shuddered at the thought. "Thought so."

"While you were investigating the 'crime scene'," Titan said, putting emphasis in crime scene, "did you find any clues as to Waterwraith's 'secret weapon' he was talking about last meeting?"

"Not a single clue. None of the shearwigs found any remains of dead pikmin so I conclude that he was lying. "

"None of the Dweevils have reported back either. I doubt that the pikmin went into that cave to slay Waterwraith. If all of the sweets are gone, the pikmin must've been after something else…" Titan said to himself.

"Titan Dweevil," I finally asked, "What about a replacement for Waterwraith? There can't be four members?"

"Ah good point Ranging. But don't expect a spot for you just because you brought it up." The Titan said.

Honestly, I did my best to restrain from whining.

"Since none come to mind right now, the previous ones will be bumped up. Emperor Bulblax has been officially promoted to 3rd and Pileated Snagret of Snagret hole has been officially promoted to 4th." Titan dweevil proudly stated.

"Yes! Rank up again! Thank you Waterwraith!" Emperor Bulblax yelled happily as he walked to Waterwraith's spot. His words earned him a few stares from the others in the Navel. "Uh, but Waterwraith's death is nothing to be happy about…"

"Well, at least it's good to be back in my spot," Pileated Snagret said as he nuzzled in the piece of land.

"Now, we shall decide on who takes the 5th spot in the Land Council. Any volunteers?" Dweevil asked, "Oh, and no vouching for yourself. The others got voted that way so no complaining."

I swear to god, it took me every bit of my dignity to restrain from whining.

"I vote for Empress Bulblax," Pileated Snagret said, "I mean, why not? She holds the highest regard to the bulborb kingdom. Anybody caught harassing the highness will receive an even more grueling punishment than already."

"Hmm, that is true," Titan Dweevil said, "Plus, her place in the ranks can help sow the ties between the bulborb kingdom and the Land Council. Though, I was kind of hoping for Segmented Crawbster to be the one to take position. And we already have good ties with the bulborb kingdom anyways, what with Emperor Bulblax and all."

"Well, the reason I didn't say Segmented Crawbster was because the fact that he has no interest in the Land Council and its ranks. I was simply respecting his lifestyle." Pileated Snagret replied.

"Many thanks to the Snavian over there for speaking out for me," Segmented Crawbster said in a relaxed tone, "Like he said, I really have no interest in the Land Council at all."

"That is true, but who else can we vouch for at this point? We can't count on Ranging Bloyster, now can we? There's no fulfilling any potential over there anytime soon."

To be honest, I wasn't offended by that. It's just how I am.

"Do you understand your position now Segmented Crawbster? There really isn't anyone now that can fill the position," Titan said.

We all stared at Segmented Crawbster for awhile, expecting an outburst of rage or something similar. Segmented Crawbster looked back and forth at all of us looking at him. Feeling the tension and having no remarks or excuses of his own, he thought about it for a while.

"You don't even have to do anything, you know." Titan said.

"Really?" Segmented Crawbster asked. "Damn, why didn't you say that sooner? Sure, I'll do it."

"Excellent. Segmented Crawbster has been officially accepted into the Land Council." Titan proudly declared.

"What about a test or an acceptance challenge?" Emperor Bulblax asked.

"I think Segmented Crawbster's destructive history and demolition tantrums more than account him for a spot in the Land Council. Besides, any demonstration here in the Forest Navel by him is sure to destroy a piece of the Navel. I speak for everyone when I say that."

"Oh," Emperor Bulblax modestly replied, feeling shot down.

"Ok Segmented Crawbster, please take your spot in the ranks," Titan Dweevil said as he pointed to a spot where Prince Bulblax once sat.

Segmented Crawbster only stared at the spot for a few seconds.

"I thought you said I didn't have to do anything." He said.

Was he serious?

"You're not that lazy, are you?" Titan said as the Crawbster meekly crawled his way to the spot.

Guess not.

"Titan Dweevil," I said, trying to act professional, "Waterwraith's death still leaves me at unease. Plus, this is a major violation to the Land Council of a high degree. I do believe some of us would like to know what is to be done about them."

I swear to god, there hasn't been this many eyes staring at me since Empress Bulblax last spawn.

"Ignoring your recent stroke of prime nobility," Titan Dweevil replied, "you do bring up a good point. However, the pikmin cannot be directly punished as for one, they abandon the Earth for the night and two, they are primitive ants, knowing only how to kill, harvest and reproduce."

"Sound like my kind of people," Segmented Crawbster muttered.

"The only ideal punishment is slaughter and massacre. And even then it is hard to make pikmin understand punishment; they don't learn."

"So a massacre is ok?" Raging Long Legs asked.

"Not by my standards. But then again would you be fully functional with the lack of sleep?" Titan retorted.

"Well, what form of punishment would be more suitable?" PIleated Snagret asked.

"I've got a better question. Did anyone care for the death of Waterwraith?" Titan Dweevil asked, "other than the fact that Waterwraith died at all?"

"Why ask a question like that?" I spoke up.

"Because I just wanted to make sure if everyone was ok about observing the pikmin for a little while longer."

"Why would we be ok with that?" Segmented Crawbster asked.

"Because one, it will help discover the pikmin's true intentions if we continue to observe them and two, this meeting is long overdue, if anyone hasn't realized yet."

I looked up to see what Titan was talking about. The moon was already at the other side of the sky and the meetings usually end when it's halfway there.

"Answer the question and I can end the meeting."

A few seconds of silence passed as everyone took their time.

"Yeah," "ok," "why not?" "Who really cared about him?" "I'm ok with that."

"Very well then. Meeting adjourned."

I was still stunned by what I just saw.

--

Morning was about to come and I wanted to return to the Shower Room. Though I am a slug, I only move slowly to conserve energy. So my travelling speed is much faster than expected. I was so damn tired… …

…

…

_Ranging…_

…_ging bl…_

…_Ran…_

…_ster.._

…_nging bloy…_

…_Ranging…_

…_Bloyster…_

…

_..._

…

_**WAKE UP!**_

"Uh! Blubbery Moofin!"

"Ranging Bloyster! I have terrible news!" the Antennae Beetle said, panicked.

"Is it so bad that you had to wake me up?" I said, still groggy.

"I was originally sent here for a notice on further meetings to be held in the future," the Beetle gasped for air, "But it's so terrible it's life threatening!"

"… The note for future meetings?"

"No! Outside! The electric gate has been torn down! The whole lake has been drained! Pikmin!"

No.

Why me?

Why would they target me?

"Antennae Beetle!" I ordered, trying to remain calm, "Go send for help from anyone in the vicinity!"

"Easier said than done! The last residents where in Submerged Castle and Waterwraith's dead!" he was not gonna calm down.

"Well…is there anyone in the Perplexing pool at all?"

"Not a soul. Nobody was outside when I came here. What should we do? You're in danger!"

I thought deeply for a second, then I remembered the secret Emergency signal that the Antennae Beetle's can use.

"Beetle! Send out the emergency distress signal to the other Beetle's! Tell them that I need help and quickly! There isn't much time!"

"But it's been so long since the signal's been last sent…I'm not sure if I can remember how to do it…"

"Just…try, okay? And if it doesn't work… go seek for help mandatorily."

"But…you might be dead then…"

"I can hold my own. Just go send the signal and hurry!"

"O-of course sir!" and with that, the panicked Beetle jumped off.

I did my best to remain calm. For one, there were pikmin coming to kill me. Normally that would only be a joke, but the pikmin have already claimed lives, the likes of Beady Long-legs, Man-at-Legs and of course, the dread Waterwraith. To have taken down such giants and creatures… no! I must remain calm! I can't abandon hope yet. I'm a Bloyster. I was born as one, and I'll die as one! I don't care if it's a whole army of pikmin, I won't be killed by any of them! Absolutely-

Ooh… pretty… light… must eat…

…

…

…

Ugh. What happened? I suddenly felt hypnotized and lost conscious for a second. It was really strange… the last thing I remember was a bright red flashing light that swayed back and forth. I think I tried to eat it. It was so strange…

All of a sudden, a strange creature leading an army of the pikmin walked in. There were some reds, some yellows and less whites than reds and yellow. The strange creature had a red…

…

So…

_Pat! Pat!_

…pretty…

_Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat!_

…

Gah! What the?!

The light disappeared and I suddenly felt this extreme pain in the gills. I heard whistling… did the pikmin whistle? I turned to my left look and I saw half of the pikmin army over there behind me. There was a blue pikmin creature who looked-

…must…

_Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat!_

…eat…

_Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat!_

TWEETWEEEEEEET!

Ugh! My…gills…it's hard to breathe…

In front of me was the blue creature I was looking at earlier. His shiny light was turned off and I didn't fall under hypnosis. Ugh… it hurts so much.

There was a bright red flash behind me. I tried to resist looking but my mind was so hazy I couldn't focus. Damn…even when my life depended on it, I can't think.

…must…

_Pat! Pat!_

…look away…

_Pat! Pat! Pat! _

…can't…

_Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat!_

…breathe…

_Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat!_

… … …

_Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat!_

… … … … …

_Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat! _

"_**GET OFF OF ME!!"**_ I finally yelled.

I finally stopped breathing. I could feel my intestines shriveling up painfully as the world started to get dark. Death was waiting for me…

My gills deformed into a small bulb as my body completely melted into a liquid substance. I lost sight as the world suddenly flashed white. All that remained was a large round metal object that I had never known existed within me, but now it was completely covered in my acidic remains. I sank into the ground as the bubbles of my corpse disappeared and the only trace of my existence was the gills that were being picked up by the pikmin. And then, time stopped.

All this time, I had lived for only three years. And yet, I never knew if I was happy with my life… I just wanted a peaceful life without any kind of fighting. But I was asking for too much in this predator and prey world. Deep inside, I acknowledged the pikmin. I didn't like them and they didn't like me. One of us was gonna die first anyway.

Yeah, I have no regrets. I'm proud of the pikmin for what they've done until now. For a few months, they were the most pitiful of animals, doomed for extinction. But they've progressed so far in the short time they've made their stand. It's almost like I want to be… one of them…

To die in their name… is dying in nature…

…

…

…

R&R


	8. Fate of the pikmin?

There's nothing like memories…

…But that's all they are…

--

"_Remember the King!"_

"_Remember the Emperor!"_

"_The King will not have died in vain!"_

"_What are you doing standing there?"_

"_You're the last Land Council member! You will never be anything like Grand Emperor Bulblax!"_

--

…

…

What a strange dream…

Now that I look at things as the way they are, the pikmin have already become a prime threat to the Land Council. They're comeback was much unexpected. After all, the Grand Emperor had ordered their extinction. Yeah, the pikmin were supposed to be put out of this planet. I didn't know why the Grand Emperor ordered it, but everyone followed it without question. And it's safe to assume they had fun with it.

Why did I have that dream though? I was over his death. Though, it's still not time to mention it again since not everybody has gotten over it. Why, when it was first mentioned at the meeting, people panicked like it just happened yesterday. I guess they loved the King that much.

Times have changed however, and the Grand Emperor Bulblax is dead. I already know this, and yet, why did I have the dream? Better not think too much on it…

…

…

…

Can't sleep…

Why does the dream bother me? It's not like me to be puzzled by this. But it's the first time I've had the dream… maybe I should think why I'm bothered by the dream?

It's… strange. I only felt this way when the King died…

--

"_He was the best King who ever lived…" cried a few bulborbs. _

_The animals of the forest had gathered around his grave. Mourning, crying, weeping over the loss of their king. His body laid there, his corpse already eroding back into the earth. The insects of the forest had assembled in the Final Trial to pay their respect for their lost King. Even the decomposer insects resented from picking apart the dead body of the king. Many of the bugs and animals cried, others talked with each other, trying to ease their sadness. _

"_Those pikmin will pay!" a bulborb to the left of me said, dripping with hatred. _

"_The pikmin should've stayed put when we killed them all…"_

'_To think that the animals are this aggressive… It's hard to believe that they liked killing off the pikmin…' I thought as I stared at the crying animals, 'but they are led by blind love for their king. It's tough to tell if they killed the pikmin out of love for their king or if they are naturally against the pikmin.'_

"_How could they have killed off the Land Council? I thought they were supposed to be undefeatable…"_

"_You are the last of the Land Council…" a wollywog said to me. "We are under your complete order."_

_I was met with endearing stares from the other animals. It was true, I was the last member of the Land Council so any order I made was theirs to follow. It was then that I didn't know what to do…_

_Each of these animals wanted undying revenge against the pikmin who killed their king. And yet, I didn't want anything to do with the Land Council in the first place. The only reason I was one of them was because my species had the most useful ability. If I said the wrong thing, the animals would revolt. If I didn't do anything, the Land Council will die. I can't be heartless and order the absolute extermination of the pikmin. And even though they had quickly reproduced in a matter of 30 days, I still didn't feel that the pikmin were truly in a need of punishment… Nevertheless, the people have spoken…_

"_I'm no Grand Emperor Bulblax," I started to say, "And I never will be. But until I earn respect from you and future generations, I shall simply think of what the king would do. If I command an animal to be executed, an animal shall be executed. If I order the destruction of an area, I expect the animals to follow without question. If I authorize a mass extermination, I know that you will all follow in my steed. And if you ever question my will or order, simply believe that it's what the king would've wanted… So, for the king, we shall hunt, crush, murder, devour, and kill off every pikmin in sight. In the name of the Grand Emperor, we shall commit a truce between predator and prey and work together to completely exterminate the pikmin. …It's…what he would've wanted." _

_Many of the animals stared at me as some wiped away their tears. _

"_Remember the king!" one yelled out loud._

"_Death to the pikmin!" another yelled. _

"_All hail the revival of the Land Council!" some more in the back yelled._

_As the last member of the Land Council, it was my job to reassemble the broken government. Nobody could replace the king. Nobody except…no. that's improbable. I must focus on seeking replacements. And this time, there will be more members. The Land Council shall rule with an iron fist and iron stomach. In the name of the Grand Emperor… the Land Council will not fall…_

--

'And yet, as of now…'

I wanted to get that thought out of my head. I did not want to think that I was breaking my oath. I promised the king…

The Land Council is still holding strong. But the pikmin are working so fast, they're killing off members day by day. They're working fast and the Land Council is already showing signs of weakness. Much of the animals in the areas the pikmin have explored get killed off by the handful. Many of the animals are already beginning to migrate from the land because of fear. At least the Arachnorb tribe are still holding together. And we have Segmented Crawbster. Grand Empress Bulblax is still safe in the Wistful Wild. And she's already spawned again. In case the Land Council does fall, there will be some noble blood running in my place…

Absolutely not! I cannot think of the possibility that the pikmin will take back this land as easily as they did with the king! It has already been 15 days and the pikmin are making quick work of the Land Council. Well, over my dead body! I will stop this pikmin threat before another person is killed in their name!

To die in their name… hah! What a joke. …

…

KRZZT!

Ouch…Shock Therapist went off on me again.

Poll thingy!

A) Prince Bulblax

B) Bulblax Duchess

C) Pileated Snagret

R&R!


	9. Fate of the Pileated Snagret

Thanks to all of you for reading my story this far!

Now, if anyone has been playing the game through this story, they will already have reached the ten thousand mark in-game. Also, Pileated Snagret wins the poll. With that in mind, let's get on with the fic!

--

"_Thanks to you our company has been saved! Hurrah!" the president said with glee._

_Olimar looked unease. He could not get the guilt of losing Louie out of his mind. He feared Louie might have…_

"_Uh, Mr. President. Would you mind if I headed back to the planet?"_

"_Hm? What for?" the president said with an eyebrow raised, "there really can't be any reason for you to return to the planet…unless, there's more treasure you'd want to keep for yourself…"_

"_Well," Olimar said, not sure if he should lie to his president, "that too. But-"_

"_What?! There's still more treasure! …Good gravy! If we collect it all, we'll be filthy rich!"_

_Olimar had no idea it would work that quickly. But as long as he was going to return to the planet and look for Louie, it was okay by him._

"_Louie!" the President said, apparently failing to realize the dilemma Olimar was in._

"…_Where's Louie?" the president asked, staring at the dusty winds of Hocotate._

"_That's also part of the reason I wanted to return to the planet… I kind of lost him…"_

"_What?! You lost him?" the president said, fearing a lawsuit._

"_But I'll accept complete responsibility in the rescue of Louie sir!" Olimar said, wanting to calm down his president._

_The president felt relieved knowing his trusted employee was going to take the blame for him. But he could never trust Olimar by himself._

"_In that case… I'll go!"_

"_Wh-what?"_

_--_

I cannot trust Titan Dweevil anymore…

The killing must stop…

Though, in a selfish way, I'm glad the pikmin have paid less attention to Awakening Wood now. I'm not a pansy or anything, but I'm enjoying the flourishing wildlife here in Awakening Wood. The pikmin could never destroy this peaceful haven and I'm glad they won't. Simply because there are two Land Council members here who are still alive. I'm feeling very optimistic about the rise of the pikmin. So even if the pikmin direct their attention to this spring ridden piece of earth, they've got another thing coming.

I hopped down to the wollywog lake. They looked up at me and waved. I was glad that they wouldn't see me any less than a caretaker because I've got a reputation to keep. Still, it was nice to have this kind of reception from the wildlife.

"Pileated Snagret, sir," a voice from behind said.

I looked to see a fellow Burrowing Snagret. For him to address me in such a way… oh god, don't tell me…

"What is it?" I said, restraining from sighing in frustration.

"We've received a distress call from Perplexing Pool. But it is a bit…late."

"How late?"

"Like, yesterday late, sir." Oh for the love of-

"Who sent the distress call?" I asked, trying to remain calm.

"Ranging Bloyster. But we believe Ranging Bloyster may have already-"

"DO YOU BASTARDS EVEN CARE ANYMORE?!" I snapped. The Snagret was taken aback by my outburst obviously.

"S-Sir Pileated-"

"NO! Don't even ask for forgiveness! Can your tiny brain even comprehend this?! The pikmin have already killed off Ranging Bloyster and you're telling this to me NOW?!"

"B-But-"

"Has this even reached the Land Council yet?! For the love of all that is mighty, at least tell me you mentioned this?!"

"I-I thought you needed to know before-"

BAMMM!

I stared at the bruised Snagret who was lying on the ground. His face was in shock, pain and confusion. The bruise from my head swinging into his was clearly visible as there was some hemorrhaging on his head and nose. I breathed heavily from rage as I stared at the scene I made. The Creeping Chrysanthemum hopped down from the ledge and looked back in fear. The Wollywogs behind me 

planted themselves on the other side of the lake and continued to stare in horror. I looked back at the Snagret who got back up but avoided eye contact. Some blood dripped.

"…"

"I-I shall make a n-note to the Land Council i-immediately, s-sir," the Burrowing Snagret said, still avoiding my gaze.

I can't believe I just did that. Was it because I was under stress? The pikmin rise is still of great concern to me. Maybe I've been thinking too much on it. Still, that's not a good excuse for deliberately attacking a fellow Snavian. Though I am a Land Council member, I might be excused. But I still fear an infraction. And how will the animals think of me now? …No. that's not important right now. If I were Titan Dweevil, I'd hold a meeting or something.

"I'll be heading to the Land Council HQ now. After you've made your report proceed to guarding Snagret Hole."

"…Y-Yes sir. B-But may I ask why you are heading to Land council HQ?" he asked me. Apparently he thinks I'm still in a bloodthirsty mood. But I feel more guilty than anything.

"I just know Titan Dweevil will hold a meeting concerning Ranging Bloyster's death. I'm just getting there ahead of time." I said as I made my way to the Forest Navel.

--

"The hell do you mean he's not here yet?" Segmented Crawbster yelled out loud.

"Yes, it is irritating. Though Titan Dweevil should be able to take care of his problem, whatever it is," Prince Bulblax said as he stared at Titan's seat.

"Usually, he's here before any of us," Raging Long Legs said to me, "I heard a rumor that he sleeps underground where his seat is because he doesn't sleep a lot at home."

"…" I stared at Raging for a while. "Why are you talking to me?"

Raging Long Legs looked back and forth in the Forest Navel (shut up, I know we can't see his eyes but he does this a lot so we're used to it) and back at me.

"This is kind of embarrassing but there aren't that many people left."

He was right. I, Raging Long Legs, Prince Bulblax, and Segmented Crawbster were the only ones even present here at Land Council HQ. In a matter of fifteen days, the pikmin have reduced the Land Council to this. Hell, we ARE the Land Council. I can't stand it anymore. The pikmin threat must be neutralized!

Suddenly, Titan Dweevil fell from the sky out of nowhere. I stared at him since this was the first time he's made his entrance like that. He stayed silent as he made his way toward his seat. I found it odd that he was walking a bit slow but my primary concern was the pikmin and nothing else.

He made it to his seat after what seemed like a minute or two. He turned around to face us but it seemed like his mind was somewhere else. He stared at us, silent for a while, then finally spoke.

"So…Ranging Bloyster died? Right?"

What.

"I guess the pikmin killed him."

The.

"Anybody have any ideas?"

HELL!

"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO!" I suddenly yelled. "THE PIKMIN ARE GOING TO PAY WITH THEIR LIVES FOR EVERY SINGLE ANIMAL THEY'VE KILLED! THEY SHALL BE MERCILESSLY EATEN, CRUSHED, OR ANNIHILATED! THAT IS MY PLAN EVERYONE! ANY OBJECTIONS?!"

Everyone just stared at me.

"Yeah, just one," the Titan Dweevil stared at me as I panted, "what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Dweevil," I said, pausing to catch my breath, "do you not see the obvious threat that is the pikmin? The pikmin must be exterminated!"

Titan Dweevil stared at me for a bit.

"Why do you think that will solve anything?" he said, "even if we do kill off each and every pikmin, more will come out, repopulate and take down whatever replaces us."

"How could you possibly say that? What the hell makes you think that can happen?" Prince Bulblax proclaimed.

"…it happened last time…" Dweevil said.

"I'm sorry, what?" Prince Bulblax said, apparently not hearing what he said.

"Look, I just don't work that way."

"And why?" I yelled, "For what insane reason makes you think like that?"

"Because I don't want to make the same mistake the Grand Emperor made."

"My father NEVER made mistakes," Prince Bulblax exclaimed, "Everything he did was to benefit his kingdom!"

"Then why do you think he was killed by the pikmin?! I would never do anything so reckless as to provoke the pikmin like that! That buffoon never thought the pikmin would strike back! And now he's dead!"

Prince Bulblax stood silent for a moment.

"How DARE you call my father a buffoon?! How DARE you insult the Bulblax name?!" Prince Bulblax yelled.

"I could care less about the Bulblax name. And the King is dead. Mindlessly killing pikmin will NOT bring him back!" The Titan Dweevil said in outrage.

"No, Dweevil…" the Prince Bulblax said, in an irritated calming voice, "He won't come back. But he will be reincarnated! No greater king than my father can have the soul to come back! We'll simply wait for the day that happens!"

"Are you serious?!" The Titan Dweevil said, almost laughing, "I can't believe you would go so far as to believe Grand Emperor Bulblax to be almost as high a being as God!"

"…" Prince Bulblax stood there for a while.

"Accept it. The King was nothing more than a king and he will have died in history, whether it be death of age or sooner. I know some of you believe that no one could replace Grand Emperor Bulblax, and if that is true, that no one can reach a higher accession than him, the whole country would be screwed!" Titan Dweevil said aggressively, "You all know as I do that there will soon be a king greater than the Grand Emperor Bulblax. And if you," he pointed to the Prince Bulblax, "are supposed to be his successor, than I cannot imagine how disappointed the king must feel."

We all stood still. What came out of Titan Dweevil's mouth had us standing there, wanting to believe something else. But in front of us, he showed us the truth. We all wanted the king back, but we were blind with loyalty, drunk with remorse, wanting a wrong to be right. But life only works in one way and we knew the king wasn't going to come back. We didn't want to admit it, but we loved the king so much we actually believed he was……

…

…

…God.

"I will end the meeting today," Titan Dweevil said. "And why don't you brush up your attitude  
'Prince Bulblax'?"

"No…not Prince." He said, "I'm Emperor Bulblax. Royal heir to the Bulblax Monarchy."

"…very well then. Meeting adjourned."

I could've sworn I saw Titan smirk.

--

That was the most aggressive meeting I've ever been to.

On my way back to Snagret Hole, I couldn't help but wonder. Since there was Land Council before us, what was titan Dweevil's role in the last Land Council? Many species came to this piece of land in response to the distress signal the king gave out before he died, that much I know. So a large majority of us are actually clueless about this land's history. All we knew, however, was that the pikmin was the enemy, and if the pikmin had the power to down a beast like Grand Emperor Bulblax, then the pikmin were a prime threat to us. At least we were on the right side of this…well, I wouldn't say war.

Night had arrived and I had just made it to Awakening Wood. I looked out to see-

…

…

…no…

The dead bodies of Wollywogs stood before me. Their corpses were slowly rotting away into the pool. I had to remain calm, I told myself as I made my way down the miniature valley. I flinched when I saw the halved mouth of a Creeping Chrysanthemum and lifeless bodies of Shearwigs littering the ground. Beyond the bridge before me I saw the rotting body of a Red Bulborb and a Dwarf Red Bulborb. I hopped a little down, remain sane, and around the corner I saw dismembered Cloaking Burrow-Nit. Some legs were missing, the snout was pulled and bent, and its eye was out of the socket and staring at me…

To my right I heard some fluttering noise as well as what sounded like some bombs blowing up. When I looked, I saw the Onions fluttering away along with some golden object flying off in a trail of smoke.

Those accursed pikmin…they've…

Tonight was the quietest night of Awakening Wood.

--

"…and don't let a single one in, you got that?!" I yelled at the Burrowing Snagret.

The sun was going to rise soon, and I had high suspicion that the pikmin were targeting Snagret hole. Evidenced by the two bridges that were built and the murdered animals from here to the onion's landing site; I was pretty sure Snagret Hole was their next destination.

"Yes milord," he said to me.

"And I swear to god, if you chicken out and let these pikmin into the hole, you'll suffer a much worse death than slaughter by the pikmin." I threatened.

"Understood, but may I ask why you haven't alerted the Land Council about your dilemma?" he asked me.

"I don't need their help. Besides, the situation is much more different than the others who died. For one, we are aware of the pikmin's next move. All the other members who were killed off didn't know of the pikmin until it was too late. And two, since we know of the pikmin's next move, our hole is the most prepared. All four Snagrets inside are completely aware of their objective, and you should be no different. Is that all?"

"…of course."

"Very well then. If the pikmin are targeting me I shall burrow to the last floor, though I usually sleep on the third. So, if that is their true intent, than the pikmin must be very exhausted by the time they reach me. Though I hope that is unnecessary."

The morning sun breached rose from behind the trees, blanketing the earth and flowers with its warm light. I knew the pikmin would come any minute now.

"Besides, if things go wrong, there are two Antennae Beetles living here. They will escape and send a distress signal to the Land Council."

Before I burrowed underground, I took one last look at the beautiful earth and plants covered in the morning sun. Sakura petals falling from the sky, flowers glistening with dew, and the grass swaying lazily in the wind. I wondered if I was going to see any of this again.

--

I cannot let a single one through.

I was under the strict order to not let a single pikmin into Snagret Hole. Pileated Snagret was obviously scared of the pikmin, but I would never say that in front of him. I'm scared of them too, but still I wouldn't say it in front of him. I missed the days where we would all lounge around, loitering in the lush grass of the earth. But apparently the pikmin are at fault.

I heard a slight tapping sound above ground. It's show time.

I erupted from the ground the traditional way. Head first into the air, then pick at the animals to eat. As soon as I caught sight of the pikmin, however, they were already fleeing. It made me think that these were the so called murderers of the land.

Disappointed, I burrowed back into earth. Maybe I should report to Pileated about the misinformation. I mean, they didn't even-

I heard tapping again. They were back…

AGH! They're probably trying to break the gate! I can't let a single one through!

I shot up quickly to the above ground, when I suddenly hit a rock! Ow, but I have to make it to above ground! I was having a lot of trouble coming out of the ground. How embarrassing. But when I got to the above ground, the pikmin were already latched onto my head! I gulped as they all attacked at once.

CRACK!

--

"Did you hear that?" I said to my guard buddy.

"Without question. It's the death cry of a Burrowing Snagret. They will reach this floor soon," he said to me.

"They've already killed the gate guardian?" I asked him.

"To be honest, I expected no less from the pikmin."

He was the experienced one, I was the new guy. We were a bad mix, him and I. But at least he's not strict, at least, not very strict. He is a bit old and age is finally getting to him. He dozes off on occasion, he utters little tidbits of his memories, and he's a bit sick. That's the impression I get from his coughing in the early mornings. I just hope he doesn't do something stupid when we're fighting pikmin.

"You guys can shriek and fear all you want. I ain't worried about no pikmin threat," a Swooping Snitchbug said to us.

"How could you not? Every animal that has come in contact with the pikmin has died. The Snitchbugs are no different."

"Well, I don't eat pikmin, so I'm pretty sure I'll be ignored. You guys, on the other hand, can have fun."

"Have you neglected the deaths of Snitchbugs in the reports of abandoned caverns?" my partner said to him.

"Two things. One, I don't care about those guys. Two, they were probably in their way or something. I'm just gonna stay out of this."

"And whose the guy with the flower fetish?" my partner asked again.

"Sh-shut up."

"It'll be awhile before the pikmin reach this sublevel. We should rest up before that happens." My partner suggested.

I burrowed underground, following his advice. But I didn't feel like sleeping. Y mind was still on the pikmin who were killing without reason. I had heard of the pikmin who started mindlessly killing off animals for no known purpose whatsoever. This labeled the pikmin as hated, murderers, and lowlifes. To 

me, it all started with the survival of the fittest. And since the pikmin were doing all they could to survive…

Wait, aren't their numbers high enough already? I heard they had exceeded a thousand altogether. If so, then why are they still killing? Their onions don't follow them into caves so there's no point in coming down here in the first place. It makes no sense. Maybe they are after something else, other than the lives of the Land Council. What would they-

_We already beat a Snagret. Why are we still here?_

Those voices…

_Don't forget, young man, that there are more than one._

Without a doubt, they're pikmin.

I quickly emerged from the ground to the surprise of the pikmin. Acting quickly, I pecked at the nearest pikmin, but missed. They all ran I the opposite direction as the Swooping Snitchbug took interest. I paid him no mind as I burrowed back underground, knowing that the pikmin won't venture into the vicinity near me while I was surfaced.

I heard their tiny feet tapping on the ground again. I knew that I had to kill as many pikmin as possible, even if I had to risk my life. I shot up to the ground a-

THWACK!

AGH! ……I hit a rock.

Crap! I couldn't burrow back into the ground yet. I had to emerge and dig back in. When I did emerge, there were pikmin already latched onto my head! Crap! I knew this was gonna happen! But, I was supposed to kill as many as I could. My head was completely swarmed by a rainbow of hostile plants, but if I was gonna die, I will eat as much of the pikmin I can!

PLOSCH!

My eye!

I can't die here! Not yet! With my working eye, I targeted the pikmin and lunged for them. More pikmin just latched onto my head when I made this move. My breathing became shallow and I couldn't swallow the pikmin. I just tasted blood. A lot of it.

"OLD MAN!" I yelled.

--

"That makes three," I said.

The death cries of three Snagrets made me doubt that this ambush strategy was going to work well.

My partner was in a different part of the sublevel. He and I knew all too well the dangers of confronting the pikmin in their favorable conditions. For example, the other Snagret and I were far in terms of distance. This means that they can pace themselves between the two of us and proceed to the next floor were Pileated Snagret is. We were spaced apart for strategic purposes. Mostly because we don't know where the pikmin will land. This way, at least one of us will attack first and surprise them. And we have an Antennae Beetle fighting with us. Though he doesn't have any attacks, his whistle can distract and confuse the pikmin long enough for us to retaliate. We feel pretty confident in our strategy.

The Antennae Beetle is sounding off his beacon. It means the pikmin have reached the floor.

I heard the tapping of their feet. It's show time.

I erupted from the ground, obviously scaring the pikmin. Wasting no time, I plucked the first one I saw an-

BURRP!

…wh-what the?

My body has completely turned to stone! No, not entirely stone, just covered and plated. But the pikmin are attacking! How are their attacks breaching the stone plating without breaking it? I can't move at all! I'm completely helpless. My skull has cracked! I'm bleeding severely! NO!

CRACK!

--

That makes five.

I was completely shocked at the work of the pikmin. They've killed off all five of the guarding Snagrets. I hope that their numbers have diminished severely from when they entered the cave. If not, then…I'm screwed.

The last death cry wasn't that long ago. The pikmin will be here any minute. On the inside, I didn't want to fight the pikmin at all. But thinking about all the innocent animals they've killed and decimating the peace of Awakening Wood reinvigorated my hatred for the pikmin. I absolutely despise the pikmin, for that they have killed off numerous members of my tribe. And not only that, but they are messing with a member of the Land Council. These guys are seriously asking for it!

As if right on cue, the pikmin had entered the sublevel. I'll give these guys a piece of my mind!

I erupted from the ground. Of course I expected to surprise the pikmin, but the pikmin looked more scared than surprised. Maybe both.

I wasted no time and immediately started plucking as many pikmin as possible. They all ran away immediately though. But I knew there was nowhere to run. The pikmin ran to the other side of the arena, but I hopped toward them in pursuit. Just then, the pikmin took shelter in one of the tunnels. I 

wanted to follow them, but I couldn't duck my head and hop towards them. My body doesn't work like that. And the floor was made of extremely hard rock so I couldn't burrow into it. Frustrated, I hopped back towards the center, knowing that it was only a battle of patience and I hated waiting. I burrowed back into the ground since I knew the pikmin wanted to take me down. Why else would they venture down here?

As I predicted, the pikmin were walking above ground, looking for me. Granting their request, I shot up to the surface and-

BAM!

Damn.

I hit a rock! Of all the stupid… Never mind. I needed to surface and attack the pikmin as I had planned. I knew I couldn't-

BURRP!

…m-my body! I've completely turned to stone! Well, not all of it. Just my skin. But the pikmin were proceeding with their attack! I don't know how I turned to stone, but what really mattered was that the pikmin attacks were breaching the stone! I had to break free of this stone spell or whatever it was. I found myself loosening through the stone binding and pretty soon, I broke through the stone spell.

I still had to surface in order for me to burrow again. But the pikmin were attacking ruthlessly on my way out. As soon as my foot touched the ground, I shook off all the pikmin on me and dug straight back into the ground.

I examined myself quickly, finding that they had inflicted blunt blows onto my head. I wasn't suffering from bleeding or anything severe, but I was mad that they hurt me at all.

The pikmin sounded like they were retreating. Their little feet were making their way into another tunnel. Well, I'm not gonna let that happen!

I immediately resurfaced in front of the pikmin before they went any further. I started plucking at the pikmin quickly as two, ugly pikmin things started throwing them at me. They were obviously missing, only hitting my feet. I managed to get one in my mouth and proceeded to get another-

BOOM!

Ugh… Why do I feel so dizzy? The sudden earthquake shook up my whole body as I felt pikmin latching onto my head and weighing me down. I was trying to regain balance but all the weight of the pikmin on my head made it hard to focus. When I finally regained my balance, my head was only a few feet from the floor! Throwing the pikmin off now would be hopeless, but I feared for my life because I felt my skull cracking inward.

When I looked up into the sky, I was met with a grueling symbolistic form of heartless bludgeoning.

A purple pikmin…

In the air…

Falling down…

CRACK!

For the 5 years I've lived, I did not expect to be taken down by the merciless hands of the pikmin. As a Pileated Snagret, we're the most violent of the Snavian tribe. And yet, to have been killed so easily without taking down a pikmin… If I recall, there was about a hundred pikmin when they entered the cave. So much for strategy.

If the pikmin do succeed in killing off the Land Council, what will become of this country? Will the pikmin end up being the new kings of this land? Will their numbers deplete as a new Land Council stands, repeating the cycle? As of now, I'm starting to believe that the Land Council has no hope of defeating the pikmin as they are now. If that's how it is, then there's nothing stopping the pikmin.

But, I didn't want to die without regrets. I don't want this beautiful country to be destroyed by the pikmin. This once grand kingdom has become hostile territory for the sake of annihilating the pikmin threat. I just think we are trying too hard.

Land Council… Titan Dweevil… pikmin… I hate you all.

To die in their name…I can't believe I died at all.

Yay! Now, to keep myself interested in writing this story. I've been playing through the game following my own story. How could I have lived without the Justice Alloy?! Ah well, it doesn't matter.

Also, the segmented parts of the chapter are the last moments of a few Burrowing Snagrets that you encounter in the hole. Just clearing confusion.

Last poll.

A) Emperor Bulblax

B) Empress Bulblax


	10. Fate of the Emperor Bulblax

To die in their name part 10

To little surprise, Emperor Bulblax wins the poll. Also, this is my most successful story yet. So why spoil a good thing? Oh well, on with the fic!

Fate of the Emperor Bulblax.

_--_

"_How could you do this to us?" they said to me to the brink of weeping._

_I couldn't believe I was doing this as well. But ever since I found this little alien, I've been able to put off a lot of my stress and disorder into words. I felt internally invigorated since this companion of mine had communicated with me so well. I felt strong in my own sense that I felt invincible, though, only theoretically. Lately, he's been interested in doing some strange rituals to the animals of this planet. They are sacrificed in the process and the end result is a delicious food that I've never had before. He calls it 'cooking'._

"_I can almost taste the juices…" he said, salivating the food he's never even tried._

"_How can you even think of eating us?" one of them said. _

"_Think? I've been contemplating on how you guys would've tasted like when cooked correctly. I've tried cooking other Dumples, but I think I've found the perfect recipe for Water Dumples," he said as he stared at the large pot steaming over with oil. _

"_Is it ready yet?" I asked. I too was curious as to how these guys tasted._

_He gave me an assuring nod as I grabbed the first Dumple to go. _

"_No! Please Titan Dweevil! Don't do it! I beg of you!"_

"_Deep fry Dumples without batter for all the flavor with half the fat," I smirked as I lifted the lid._

--

How dare the Titan Dweevil to call my father a buffoon?

How dare he insult the family name?

My father was the greatest king who ever lived. No one can surpass him! All of his orders were absolute and to benefit the kingdom. Everything he did was blessed by the invisible hand of God. That is why the country flourished! Under his order, we were promised the greatest country to live in! Being blessed with monstrous size and power, it's no real surprise that he couldn't be dethroned!

Until…that day…

As if the lightning of irony struck, we soon stood before his grave, weeping and mourning over the loss of our Grand Emperor. I was only a larva then, but I was there at the funeral alone. My mother had died the day before and my sister was already spawning. It was then that I knew that, as the last few of the born princes, I would take the place of my father really soon. Although, I knew that I could never replace my father…

What Titan Dweevil said to me got me thinking like I never thought before. Would I really live up to my father's potential? Would I end up doing worse than my father? Can I really save this kingdom without him? What would my father do?

"Prince Bulblax," a Bulborb said.

I sighed, irritated, as I stared at the Bulborb. He knew how he was supposed to address me as.

"Er… I mean, Emperor Bulblax." He said, getting it right.

"What is it, young Bulborb?" I asked.

"We have received a message for you. It is from the Land Council."

I sighed as I walked my way towards the entrance of Bulblax Kingdom, almost wishing that this wouldn't lead to another meeting with the Land council. But I knew that, at this rate, the pikmin could make anything possible.

--

"Ah, you are awake Emperor Bulblax," the Antennae Beetle said to me. At least he was addressing me correctly.

"Let me guess, this is concerning another meeting with the Land Council, right?" I asked, frustrated.

"Ah, straight to the point. Why yes, it is. You are needed to be there before sunset." He said.

"Before sunset? That's only a few hours from here!" I yelled. Why did he tell me this now?

"Excuse me, your majesty, but I have had a busy day recently. So, if you don't mind-"

"I don't give a DAMN about your schedule or day. If it is this important that it had to be addressed to me, why so late?!" I yelled at him.

"Because I am the ONLY one left!" he snapped at me, "With my brothers gone and the others chickening out, I have been forced to work for their part-time jobs with NO THOUGHT OF MY MENTAL STATE!"

"DO NOT YELL AT THE KING!" A bulborb next to me snarled. "The king could care less about you and your laborious efforts. What the king asked was, _why_ didn't you tell him of these news as early as possible?!"

"BECAUSE I WAS BUSY!!"

"…"

"…"

We stared at one another for awhile, not even caring about the scene we made. Exchanging glances of disbelief, we waited for someone to break the silence.

"Geez guys, so early in the night?" an Orange Spotted Bulborb said to us as he walked off into the wild.

I looked up at the sky to see that I even had _less_ time than I did just now. I didn't want to waste anytime as I quickly made my way to the Forest Navel. Me and the Antennae Beetle left the area, without a second look, without a facial expression, without a word.

--

"You look quite giddy today Segmented," my fellow brother Bulblax said to the Segmented Crawbster.

He was disturbingly docile as of now. He stares off into a gaze, he moodily swings his head and tail back and forth, and he's even been talking to himself sometimes since we entered the Forest Navel. I wasn't sure what was wrong with him but I personally didn't care. It's just that…something was wrong here.

"There really is no explanation to it kid," he said to him, bobbing his head side to side, "Have you ever been in love?"

"…Yeah, something is wrong here," I commented, "I mean, Love and Segmented Crawbster go together like fire and water. It just doesn't happen."

"I met her yesterday near the log clearing. She had the most beautiful pair of arms I've ever seen." He said, staring off into a gaze.

I continued to stare at Segmented Crawbster in total disbelief. I mean, him? IN LOVE??

"You can think about her all you want," I said, "Just leave it to yourself, okay?"

Segmented Crawbster stared at me for a while before shrugging and minding his own business.

Just then, from Titan Dweevil's seat, arose one leg, fllowed by another one, finishing with two more from the ground. Finally, Dweevil completely revealed himself, looking a bit more chipper than usual. He greeted the Land Council with a wide happy smile that only a mother could love. I felt like throwing up.

"Why, greetings fellow Land Council members," he said to us, then stared for a second. "Why are you all not in your seat?"

"We had just arrived here on such short notice Titan Dweevil," Raging Long Legs said, "plus, we were greeted unexpectedly by our fellow species from distant lands." He said as he took a glance at a nearby Beady Long Legs.

"Ah yes. It is fortunate that they are here, though it is unfortunate as to why. You see, Pileated Snagret has been reported dead. Along with all five of the guarding Burrowing Snagrets." At this we were all taken by surprise.

"Wait, you cannot be serious?!" I jerked in hysterics.

"Oh yes, a search team that I had trouble convincing to search the area because of fear reported leftovers of feathery scales," he said, then scratched his chin in confusion, "…or was it scaly feathers?"

This is impossible. No, it couldn't even be thought of. The pikmin have killed off every Snagret in Snagret hole, even Pileated has been reported dead. I did not care how many pikmin had died in the adventure, I only cared that Pileated Snagret had died in their name. I mean, if five Burrowing Snagret and their Pileated leader couldn't kill them off, who could?

"This is serious you guys," Raging Long Legs said, "They have killed off yet another member of the Land Council. Titan Dweevil, my primary concern is if they find Wistful Wild, where our most powerful members live. Wistful Wild is quite close to our HQ."

'_So that's why these guys get here so early…'_ I thought to myself.

"Well, first of all, we need to find some replacements for our lost mem-BURRP!" Titan Dweevil suddenly burped, covering his mouth in embarrassment as he earned questioning stares from the rest of us.

"Whoa, where'd that come from?" he said, chuckling, "Sorry guys, I had a big meal before I came."

"What a mood killer…" I said to myself.

"But yeah, we need to find a replacement for Pileated Snagret." Dweevil finished.

"What we NEED to do first is to figure out how to stop the pikmin from reaching Wistful Wild," Raging Long Legs said, "mostly because I live there."

"Nice, real nice," I said with sarcasm.

I myself was worried. Since the last two caverns of Awakening Wood and Valley of Repose belonged to me and the Bulblax du- I mean, Empress Bulblax, the pikmin could have the chance to take down one of us. This can jeopardize the fate of the Bulblax Kingdom! But what am I to do?

"Let me in!" a small voice said.

"You can't get in without the order of Titan Dweevil!" a guard security said.

"Now what's all this then?" Titan Dweevil remarked.

"Emperor Bulblax! I've come with alarming news!" the small voice said, walking into the light to reveal a small little bulborb with a red stem and leaf coming out of his head.

"Stop right there!" the guard yelled, pouncing on him to stop the red bug from proceeding any further.

I was surprised to see that it was the same Antennae Beetle from before. He was struggling from holding the little bulborb in place, but I knew that whatever this bulbmin had to say was important. He risked coming here from miles away from his home just to let me know. Besides, what are the chances that he'd betray us? These bulbmin are raised under the special care of our own admin bulbmin, to make sure that they don't turn sides with the pikmin.

"Stop!" I said, and on command, they stopped.

The Antennae Beetle, who looked a bit resentful, released the bulbmin as he scurried his way to me. Apparently, he wasn't appalled or intimidated by my size.

"You just _know_ how to make someone look dumb, do you?" the Antennae Beetle said grievously at me.

"So, little one," I said, ignoring the comment of the Antennae Beetle as he walked out, "what is it that you have come all this way for?"

"Well, Emperor Bulblax, I was on my way to visit the nursery of Bulblax Kingdom when I noticed that the pond leading to the Cavern had disappeared!"

What? The pond has disappeared? Then that must mean…

"I walked on further to realize that the Electric gate has been torn down as well! Emperor Bulblax, they're coming after you!"

I knew it. The evidence was obvious. They will enter the Bulblax Kingdom the next morning. What am I going to do though? Morning is a few hours away and I don't have a lot of time to prepare… What would the king do? What would my father do? …What would _I_ do?

"This information is quite alarming after all," Titan commented. "Emperor Bulblax, I suggest you and you're your kingdom prepare yourselves for an invasion."

I knew I was in a dilemma, but what would happen to my Kingdom if I die? No. If I know my father, he would face the pikmin head on with no help from his troops. In this situation, he would put power into the forces that are guarding Frontier Cavern to protect the Empress Bulblax in case he dies. But…what would _I _do?

"Emperor Bulblax," the Bulbmin said to me, "I will do the honor of alerting any and all nearby Bulborbs, Bulbears and Bulblaxes and alert them that the Bulblax Kingdom is in danger of invasion. Will you let me do the honors?"

At this point, any help is appreciated. Yes…the pikmin won't know what hit them.

"Absolutely. Quickly, assemble all of our strongest Bulborbs and send them to Bulblax Kingdom immediately."

"Actually, Emperor," he said to me, "why not send them after sunrise?"

"Why would I wanna do that?" I asked. It made little sense to me.

"Think about it. Sending them in after the pikmin have moved will cause them to be forced between two strong forces. That way, the pikmin won't leave alive."

Yes, it does make sense. If the pikmin dared to retreat, they would come face to face with the strongest Bulborbs imaginable. And treading further down the cave would lead them to me. They would be exhausted and have little power of fighting back. Yes, this can work! And after this, we will destroy what's left of the pikmin race aboveground.

"Very well then. Organize our top troops and hold them until after sunset. When Awakening wood is clear, move them in."

"Got it Emperor!" he said proudly as he made his way out of the Forest Navel.

"Do you think that alone will postpone the pikmin's movement?" Titan said to me.

"Well, if anything, this will stop the pikmin from proceeding any further. We have help from the outside world and we'll be prepared for them. I'm starting to doubt that these pikmin will even make it to me."

"Fine. But before we end this meeting, I will move Segmented Crawbster to the 4th rank since Pileated Snagret is dead."

Segmented Crawbster was off in the corner thinking of God knows what.

"Huh? Yeah sure."

"I will talk to Pileated Snagret of Hole of heroes to see if he's interested in the position of the 5th ranked Land Council member. Until then, meeting adjourned."

As I walked on my way out of the Forest Navel, I was doing a lot of thinking.

'_If the pikmin intend to kill me, they'll have to shove their way through Bulblax Kingdom. Although, maybe I should talk to my other brother about this…' I thought._

--

_Assembled somewhere deep in the forest,were a whole group of ferocious animals. They snarled and paced about in impatience and hunger as they waited for the briefing of their mission. Though they were supposed to sleep for the next morning, many of them could not contain their excitement for that they were about to feast on an entire army of pikmin soon. Many of them, from battle-scarred Bulbears to menacing Fiery Bulblaxes, were experienced battlers who were heralded by their species as the strongest fighters ever bred. _

"_Ugh! When are those stupid Bulbmin going to get here?!" one of them shouted in ignorance. _

"_I'm just as irritated as you," another said as he rested against a stone wall, "but you don't see me wailing."_

"_Hey! I'm not a whale!" he replied as the other shook his head in sorrowful sympathy._

"_Are you sure this is going to work?" a red bulbmin asked._

"_What if we die?" another asked._

"_We must do what we can for the future of this country," a certain bulblmin said, "I'll be damned if we let those ignorant fools kill off our only hope. Prepare the rock!"_

_The sound of crunching stone was heard, much to the curiosity of the Bulborbs assembled below._

"_Did you hear something?" one asked another in particular._

_Suddenly, from atop the stone wall, came down a colossal stone that crashed onto the assembled bulborbs. The remaining few screamed in terror as they began to run around in hysterics and confusion._

"_It's an ambush! It's the pikmin!!" one of them yelled._

"_Drop the bombs!" the little Bulbmin yelled as a series of strings were pulled._

_From the trees came down a shower of black rocks, some glowing with yellow energy, that bombarded the field with explosives. Many of the surviving Bulborbs and Bulbears were met with a painful death as the rocks landed on them. Others hesitated to move as the other bombs that didn't explode were nearing detonation. One halted as a bomb land in front of him, turned around but was blown away by a nearby bomb. He landed in a daze as he shook his head, realizing that sitting in front of him was a bomb that was about to explode. He couldn't escape. _

"_Alright men!" the little bulbmin yelled, "Let's finish them off with the least casualties possible! Aim for their eyes and their sockets!" he yelled as he held a sharp stick in his stem. _

_As they cheered for their leader, they jumped down the stone wall and engaged the bewildered group of Bulborbs and Bulbears. Many of them leaped onto the wild beasts and stabbed them in the eye. Others jabbed at the running ones in their feet, disabling them as they fell. With the Bulborbs aware of the attack, they straightened themselves and retaliated quickly before more were lost. _

'_This can't be happening,' one Bulbear thought. 'I can't die here! My daughter was born yesterday!'_

_He looked out at the bloody scene. The bodies of many Bulborbs were scattered in pieces across the ground. He even witnessed one of his own fall over drenched in blood, never moving again. He now feared for his life, believing he would die here. But he was more concerned about the King, he knew that, without them, he had little chance of survival. _

_It was then, at that moment, that he knew the world he was born in would be changed forever._

_It was then that a nearby Bulbmin had spotted him and charged for the finishing blow._

_It was then that the country would fall in the name of the pikmin._

'_To die in their name is to lose this country.'_

_SHINNK!_

No polls. No votes. Just stay tuned for the next chapter. Most likely coming soon.

Also, thank you all for the whopping 50 reviews for this story. This story will probably end in about four more chapters. Support me by R&Ring! Later.


	11. Fate of the Empress Bulblax II

And now, the plot thickens…

I understand that some of you are confused by the last chapter. I also understand that some questions have arisen throughout the reading of this fic. Well, since the last boss before Wistful Wild, the Empress Bulblax, cannot attend Land Council meetings, this chapter will be quite short. However, I believe I shall also take the time to clear some things before we finish this chapter. Enough about me, here's what you came for!

Fate of the Empress Bulblax.

--

"_Oh Empreor Bulblax…" wept a Red Bulborb, "how could this have happened?"_

_Many Bulborbs had gathered around Emperor Bulblax's grave, the site where he died, the site where he was last seen. His slobber had soaked the floor, his blood was spotted on the floor, his eyestalk laid there, lifeless; the last remnant of their king was sitting there right in front of them. The room, the last level of Bulblax Kingdom, was crowded with the melancholic Grub-Dogs, each one mourning for the loss of their prince, for the loss of their country, for the loss of their future._

"_We will miss you Emperor Bulblax," another large Emperor Bulblax said._

_He seated himself in the water filled portion of the room, sitting there as the wall of fire erupted behind him. Though the others were clearly heartbroken, this Emperor didn't seem too fazed by the death of his brother._

"_You make me sick, you know that?" Raging Long Legs said to him in disgust._

"_I took necessary action. I need to stay alive to see this ordeal to the end."_

"_But why sacrifice your own brother for the sake of your safety?"_

"_At least he didn't know they were coming. I told him that he was allowed to sleep in my room for the night. I was hoping that the backup would be able to take care of the pikmin should he die, but apparently, they didn't make it."_

"_What do you mean by, 'they didn't make it'?" he asked in a brow raising manner._

"_Apparently, the entire group was found somewhere in a forest clearing slaughtered to pieces. Many of them had their eyes jabbed out and they bled to death. Others were blown apart by bomb-rocks, as discovered by our Careening Dirigibug experts."_

"_What? That's unthinkable! How could those troops of yours, the allegedly strongest of the species, have been killed off?"_

"_They were ambushed, apparently."_

"_But how can this be? There is no way the pikmin could've done it!"_

"_Now do you see? This isn't a survival of the fittest anymore," he said as he walked a bit forward, "this is a War…"_

_--_

"_So, how shall the arm be prepared?" he asked the blue alien who hopped down the large stairs._

"_Mm… I was thinking of a nice Chocolate Mousse to help make use of the spare chocolate I have in my ingredients kit. Let me brainstorm first…" he said as he brought out a little notebook and pencil._

"_So what should be prepared in the meantime?" he inquired._

"_I feel like having a Snagret shish kabob. Prepare the grill," he yelled from a distance._

"_Very well then. I'm assuming it's charcoal fire?"_

"_Of course!"_

_As the Titan set up the grill, he looked over to the stove to see that the dinner inside was nearing completion._

"_Hey Louie! The Orange Bulborb fajitas are almost done. Should I cool down the oven to make them easier to remove?"_

"_What? No!" he said, returning, "Hot foods like fajitas must stay hot. It's the mitts and nothing but the mitts, got it?"_

"_Fine," he groaned, "but the mitts feel weird…and embarrassing." _

"_The price of food and its art cannot be measured in labor and personal etiquette, Dweevil."_

"_Yeah ,yeah. Let's hurry up and eat."_

"_The smartest thing you have said all day. Maybe those leftover Wollywog burgers from last night shall work up our hunger before the main course," he said to himself as he walked past a large, unconscious, blue-shelled, female Crawbster._

_--_

"_Hey, why aren't you asleep?" one individual asked._

"_I've been thinking…there's one cave left before the ones in Wistful Wild. I mean, we've gone this far and I know there's no turning back now…"_

"_Are you worried?"_

"_Sort of…I just can't shake the feeling that this feels wrong for some reason…"_

"_How is it wrong? I mean, yeah, we've been killing off the Land Council members slowly. Isn't that our goal?"_

"_Well, all we've been doing is following the leader to our death. I mean, after we kill them all off, what will be left for us? What will become of this harsh land carved by the brutal laws of this corrupt government?"_

"_You know what I think? I think you've been thinking too much. So stop thinking of thinking and think of sleeping. That should help, y'know, to stop thinking and stuff."_

"…" _he stared at him for a while, "are you serious?"_

"…" _rubbing the back of his head, he replied, "I think…"_

"_I think you're right," he said, exhausted and irritated, "maybe I should stop thinking and follow our leader to the end of all this."_

"_That's good because you lost me at 'death'."_

"…" _he stared at him again, "I'm just gonna go straight to bed."_

"…" _he soon found himself alone in the room, left with his own little mind of theorems and complex philosophies that would cause brain meltdowns of apocalyptic proportions._

_--_

"_We want out!" yelled a clamoring crowd of angry animals._

_Gathered outside the entrance of the Forest Navel were an angry, upset, and completely pissed crowd of bugs and animals waving sticks and shouting profanity. Many of them had gathered out of courage to face the remaining Land Council to pour their thoughts of conspiracy and mutiny to the Land Council, the very government that has disappointed and failed the very citizens of the country. Even a large number of the Grub-Dog family was present at the protest. Though their efforts would threaten a monarchy into a revolution, in hindsight, there was nobody present at the Forest Navel. _

_Well, at least for the first few hours of the day._

"_I came as soon as I heard," the Emperor Bulblax said, "I would've come earlier but I was at my brother's funeral." _

"_I don't think Segmented Crawbster is in a good mood today," Raging Long Legs said._

_It was true. Segmented Crawbster had been quite crabby recently, no pun intended (A/N: seriously). He would walk around nervously, pacing himself between each step as his head seemed to be somewhere else. Nevertheless, a single word is enough to make him snap, as usual._

"_Where the hell is Titan Dweevil?" Raging Long Legs asked no one in particular._

"_I sent an Antennae Beetle for him. He doesn't live in a cave like the rest of us, so I sent a few animals to help him navigate." _

"_Where does he live?"_

"_Somewhere in the forest in complete isolation."_

_--_

"_Why doesn't this guy write a map or something?" groaned an Antennae Beetle._

"_Look, this is important since the Emperor sent us," said an Orange Bulborb, "besides, I hope you're memorizing this, because we won't guide you back."_

"_I'm only doing this for the points," mentioned a Pileated Snagret, though noticeably smaller than the Land Council one, "I also want to talk to Titan Dweevil about replacing the Pileated Snagret if I can."_

"_You will most likely not get in," said a white Wollywog as he hopped low to keep up with them, "I heard that Land Council Members are born into the system."_

"_That's only true for the Emperor Bulblax," the Orange Bulborb said._

"_I thought it also counted for Raging Long Legs…" the Pileated Snagret said._

"_We're almost there you guys…" the Wollywog said._

_As if on cue, they entered the forest clearing, the supposed area where Titan Dweevil lives. To their surprise, the whole area was littered with large mechanical blocks that sat there, unmoving, yet there were clear signs that they've been moved. _

"_Titan Dweevil!" the Antennae Beetle yelled out, suddenly surprised that his voice echoed throughout the area. _

"_This place is creepy…" commented the Pileated Snagret._

"…_I'm gonna go tinkle," the Wollywog said._

"_Wait! Don't go alone!" yelled the Pileated Snagret._

"_I'm gonna go find the Titan Dweevil, later," said the Antennae Beetle._

"_Oh great, we're splitting up," Pileated Snagret said, worried for himself and the others._

"_Calm down, man. It sounds like you're in a horror movie or something," commented the Orange Bulborb._

_The Pileated Snagret stared at him, confused._

"_What's a movie?" he asked, confusing the Bulborb as well._

"_Where in god's name is he?" said the Antennae Beetle._

_At the moment, he was on top of what seemed to be a large metal box with four squares of assorted metal and a saucer under them. There was a little wall up ahead with dials and buttons, littered with words like 'broil' and 'bake'. _

'_Man, I really don't want to be here…' he thought. _

_Suddenly, he found himself under a looming shadow of a four legged spider. Surprised, he turned around quickly, but felt relieved when he saw it was only Titan Dweevil._

"_Oh, it's just you Titan Dweevil," he said, relieving the fear from his breath, "listen, there is a little protest going on outside the Forest Navel and we need your help in calming down the crowd."_

_Titan Dweevil, however, looked more interested in the Antennae Beetle as he gripped his weapon in his hands._

"_Why are you looking at me like that?" the beetle asked, noticing a glittering blade in his hand, "what is that you are holding?"_

"_How long can a frog pee?" the Orange Bulborb commented._

"_AAAAGHHH!"_

"_What the hell was that?!" the Pileated Snagret loudly exclaimed._

"_It sounded like screaming…" the Orange Bulborb said. _

_Suddenly, a loud thunderous stomp was heard behind the Bulborb as he shuddered fearfully. He quickly turned around and was faced with Titan Dweevil holding a large stick attached to a sharp, wide blade. Upon eye contact, Dweevil raised the weapon high above his head. The Bulborb screamed in terror as the Dweevil struck the Bulborb in between the eyes. The Snagret shrieked in terror as he turned around and sprinted, but tripped on his own foot and fell. Titan Dweevil walked over at him, attempting to take his weapon but it was lodged in the head of the now dead Bulborb. Pileated Snagret tried desperately to stand up and run from the Dweevil, but the Dweevil had already raised his razor sharp foot in the air._

"_NO!" he yelled._

_SHIINK!_

_His life flashed before his eyes. He looked down to see that the foot landed in his heart cavity. Feeling like he was drowning in blood, he coughed, gagged a bit, and fell over his head as he died. Witnessing the scene, the lone frog shuddered as he feared for his own life._

"_Oh crap…" he muttered._

_From behind him, Louie slowly walked to him, in a lifeless, murder-hungry stance as he held a butcher knife in his hand. The wollywog quickly looked behind him, but it was too late._

"_AAHH!"_

_SHIINKK!_

_--_

"_Drink my brothers!" the bulbmin yelled, "The fall of the Land Council is imminent!"_

_The large crowd of bulbmin hollered as they held their leaves high in the air as they drank from the stem of the nectar-filled flower in front of them._

"_It is a glorious day for celebration, wouldn't you say?" another bulbmin asked._

"_Mmm, yeah. Especially after our first victorious battle," a certain bulbmin said._

"_Hey, that was a clever thing you did over at the Forest Navel, tricking the king so we can ambush his most powerful forces," the bulbmin said._

"_Thanks, it took me a week to think of that one," he replied._

"_Excuse me," a nearby Bulbmin asked, "but why are we helping the pikmin win the fight against the Land Council?"_

"_Ah, I thought the briefing from earlier would've been enough, but I think you guys deserve a full explanation," he said as he stood up on the table and spoke out loud._

"_Excuse me everyone," he spoke out loud to the entire tribe, "but, as leader of your tribe, I believe it is time to reveal the true intentions of our mission."_

_The whole party of bulbmin hollered in glee as they paid attention to their self-proclaimed leader._

"_As you know, our pikmin brethren have been doing a fine work of ridding the Land Council of its members."_

_Again, the crowd clamored in happiness._

"_Even though many of us were born into the system of the government, we are proud for resisting the system, and align ourselves with the pikmin to bring down this corrupt country!"_

_Once more, the crowd happily yelled._

"_But why do we help the pikmin, you ask? I, too, couldn't imagine myself slaying a bulborb. But when I heard news of the pikmins rise in power, I had confidence that the fall of the Land Council was imminent. Then you may ask, what has the Land Council done to us? Well, long ago, we bulbmin and the pikmin had lived in peace, friends if you may. However, the Grand Emperor disliked the pikmin and hatred led to _

_his command of their extinction. What became of us is that we were adopted by the Grub-dog family, birthed and brainwashed into believing the pikmin were our enemy. What especially encouraged me to begin this rebellion is the interesting tale of a fellow bulbmin who made first contact with the pikmin. I think he's here right now…"_

_As he squinted his eyes to look for said bulbmin, the bulbmin stood up and waved his flower stalk in the air._

"_Ah, there you are. You are one of the survivors from Submerged Castle, right?" he asked._

"_Yes I am!" he proudly replied._

"_Of course. You see, he was born into the system like the rest of us. But then the pikmin came and recruited our little sport and helped take down the Waterwraith!"_

_At this, much of the crowd looked worried, though happy with disbelief. Wanting to ease them, the bulbmin spoke._

"_Do not be afraid, my brothers! He is long dead and so shall the rest of the Land Council!"_

_The silence soon turned to excitement as the audience grew more confident._

"_Now I'm not going to lie, but mother would never have approved of it. So, I did something that would scar me for life. …I…took the life of my own mother…"_

_Gasps of worry and disbelief spread throughout the whispers of the crowd._

"_So, is that what it is?" a random bulbmin asked, "Should we really kill our mothers if they disapprove of this?"_

"_Our mothers do not even know of this meeting, much less our ambush on the Bulborb warriors."_

"_So you're saying that sacrifices are necessary to win this war that might never end? What if the pikmin do not accept us? What if they kill us like they did to our king?"_

"_That is not true!!" a certain flower bulbmin yelled, "For that adventure, I learned of what it was like to be a pikmin. I learned of their abilities, their personality, their pain... The pikmin have suffered more than what we could possibly imagine!!"_

"_But is it worth it?! That's what I'm asking. If we lose this war, who will adopt a bunch of traitors?"_

"_We will NOT lose this war!" the leader said, "We will see this war to the end and we will ride with the pikmin to victory!!"_

"_THAT IS NONSENSE!!" a loud voice yelled._

"…_could that be…?" a random bulborb said as he looked back along with the rest of the bulbmin._

"_We are very disappointed in you all," said a much larger bulbmin, "especially you, the one they call, 'leader'."_

"_How could you even think of conspiracy?" another larger bulbmin asked._

"_This misdeed will not go unpunished," the large bulbmin said as the others nodded in agreement._

"_Mom, I can explain," one bulbmin said._

"_You will explain nothing! We've been here listening the whole time. Everything! From your disobedient ambush to your plans of siding with the pikmin. We will not kill you, god forbid, we will just take you all home and give you all one hell of a disciplinary beat-down!"_

"_You will do NO such thing!" the leader said._

"_YOU on the other hand, since I do not care for you nor are you the child of any willing mother, I have total freedom to kill you off. You've been feeding our kids nothing but garbage!"_

"…_guys…" he said in a low tone, "clean your mind of any guilt, any restraint, and every thought of your mother…"_

"_What do you plan to d-" suddenly, she was stopped as she looked down to see her son, who had driven a stick through her heart._

"_J…Jules…why?"_

"_You wouldn't understand mom. You are not my mother anymore…"_

_As she fell over with tears in her eyes and blood on the ground, the other parents were looking in shock and total disbelief at the murder committed. _

"_My brothers…leave no vein uncut. Leave no bones unbroken. Leave no one…alive," he said in cold blood._

_(A/N: And you thought TV turns kids into criminals.)_

_--_

"_Where the hell is he?" said Raging Long Legs, "He should've been here hours ago. …that bastard."_

_Suddenly, a large rock was hurled, hitting the Long Legs square on the head._

"_Ow! Son of a…that's it! I can't wait any longer for that asshole. I'm gonna take matters into my own hands!" he said angrily as he waltzed forward toward the crowd._

"_Calm down Raging Long Legs," Emperor Bulblax said, "I'm sure he'll be here soon…"_

"_I can't wait anymore! If he doesn't come soon, I'm cracking skulls!"_

_Emperor Bulblax groaned at this, but then saw Titan Dweevil arriving from afar._

"_Well, speak of the Dweevil, here he comes now!"_

"_Terrible," Raging Long Legs said, "You are terrible."_

"_Sorry that I'm late, I was busy finishing a meal," Titan said, suddenly burping as he hid his mouth embarrassed, "make that four…"_

"_Enough about your food. Help us calm down this crowd!" Emperor Bulblax demanded._

_Titan Dweevil looked out at the whole crowd of angry protesters. Trying to think of an answer, only one thing came to mind. He grabbed his Shock Therapist, charged it and launched electric nodes at the crowd, scaring a few away as well as killing a few of them._

"_Did…you just do what I think you did?" Raging Long Legs asked._

"_You wanted me to calm down this crowd? I did."_

"_But now they're angry at us," Emperor Bulblax exclaimed, "They'll start attacking back since we've made the first move!"_

"_Then I suggest you bring back-up because they're bringing out toys of their own," Titan Dweevil said as they brought a catapult almost out of nowhere._

"_Well, there's no way I could… ah screw it!" he said as he turned around and roared a mighty roar. _

_The roar stretched for miles as it spread across the land, signaling the call for every bulborb in the vicinity. As he waited for back-up to arrive, Titan Dweevil made his way to the internally struggling Crawbster. _

"_You look discontent. What's wrong?" he asked._

"_I haven't seen her in a while. I'm starting to get worried. She wasn't there when I arrived at her home and hasn't been there all day. I'm worried that she might've been…killed," Segmented Crawbster said in sadness._

"_You know what I heard? I heard that she was ambushed."_

"_WHAT?!"_

"_Yup. Her carcass was found today in a forest thicket. Her arm had been removed, and she had been brutally gutted."_

"_This…this can't be… impossible…"_

"_You and I both know that no pikmin, no matter how many, could've done that. It only leads to other suspect then," he said as he pointed to the angry crowd._

"_I will make every living moment of mine a life of murder and revenge! Those bastards will pay for the loss of my dear mate!!"_

"_They had no right to take her. Let yourself loose and unleash your rage on the thousands who wrecked your life."_

_Crawbster hesitated a bit before suddenly lunging at the crowd and landing on the first creature. He landed his claw on a Whiskerpiller before lashing out against the entire crowd as they ran. He crushed, obliterated, and destroyed everyone who was near him. It was total chaos._

'_She was mighty tasty too…,' Titan Dweevil thought as he licked his lips in reminiscence of his recent meal._

--

Oh how I yearn to be free…

Free of this poisoned country…

It has been a few days since I started spawning. It was painful at first, but I got used to it after the first four hours. Since then I've been spawning nonstop. When the kids get a day old, they venture off into the outside world. Normally, they would be registered into the system by the Land Council, but ever since the pikmin have made their rise, it has been nothing but chaos out there. I feel that my children have been born into a terrible generation…

I've been getting my news of the outside world by a Puffy Blowhog who strays outside of the cavern's entrance. But recently, he hasn't been around all day. I'm starting to get worried that the pikmin may have already planned their next attack. And if that's true, then the Grub-Dog family will suffer greatly if I die…

"Momma!"

I looked down to see my little child waddling over to me. Along came the rest of my offspring who were cuddling together and started yawning.

"Oh my children," I said to them lovingly, "Rest for tomorrow. You will all give face to a new world."

As they cuddled against me, overtaken by sleep, I began to wander through my memory.

'Burrowing Snagret…I have not forgotten what you said to me… like you said, I'll sacrifice anything for the sake of survival. But…should I go so far as to sacrifice my children in the process? I can always make more…'

Suddenly, I yawned, feeling that the young have stopped spawning behind me. I was getting tired…

'Man-at-Legs… you were also a great friend… being different hurts, but it means that everyone must be the same. Everyone is the same because everyone is different. You must never feel ashamed of being different. That's what you taught me…'

I soon drifted off to sleep, hesitatingly waiting for the dawn of a horrible day…

'_This place smells horrible!'_

'_It smells like crap everywhere.'_

'_What is that?'_

'_Aw, it's so cute!'_

'…'

'_Kill it!'_

"GAWK!"

Ugh…what?

"GAWK!"

That sounded like…

"MOMMA!"

My kids!

As soon as I woke up, I started spawning in the back end. I couldn't move at all, but I knew that my children were hungry. Really gluttonous, if I say so myself. And if the pikmin dare attack, they have another thing coming. Because the bulborb-

"Doo de doo de doo, Hmm hm hmm hm hmm hm…"

Wait… how the?

Somehow, the pikmin and his leader managed to get around the entire army of larvae that I had laid already. Along with a black-attired little alien that hurriedly ran to his side. Without warning, the red one began tossing pikmin at me! As I struggled, my whole face was soon covered with the pikmin. Though it has been a while, I decided that I should take the moment to try to do some eating myself. I moved a bit to the side to try to get a nibble on a few of them, but to no avail. I felt myself bleeding profusely so I stopped moving and did my best to shake them off. He blew his whistle as the pikmin quickly recollected behind their leader. I didn't want them to cloud my face again so I did the only thing I could. I threw all of my weight to my left as hard as I could. I hit the wall with a hard force as I saw that the pikmin were looking sternly at me. I knew standing still would be the end of me. So I forcefully threw my weight back to where I was, but I soon found out that I used too much force and slammed straight into the opposite 

wall. Feeling stupid, I forcefully rolled back a little less harder to land at the right spot, in front of the pikmin.

Suddenly, something came up in me.

Ooh…resisting the spawning caused me immense internal pain. I couldn't move anymore and I had to start birthing more bulborbs. Once I started birthing again, I felt more at ease on the inside as the voices of newborn bulborb filled my ears.

As soon as I started birthing, the little pikmin started throwing pikmin onto my face. The excruciating pain of the pikmins attack began to get to me. I couldn't stop birthing or else I'll feel that restricting pain again. But the pikmin were killing me and I couldn't depend on my young children to take care of the pikmin. They would die.

I had no choice but to shake them off forcefully. I also had no choice but to forcefully roll my way to the wall again. As soon as I hit the wall, it just hit me that my children were heading to the pikmin to try to eat them. I didn't want them to do that just yet. If I stood still and allowed it, they would die and I'd be helpless. If I act now, I can fool the pikmin into attacking the kids and I'll crush them. Quickly, I forcefully pushed myself towards the wall. I closed my eyes because I didn't want to get dizzy. When I hit the wall, I opened my eyes to see that the pikmin didn't move at all. Then that means…

I…I killed my own…

No…

Sacrifices are necessary to win!

With newfound confidence in the loss of my kin, I rolled back into place just in time before my inner pains set in. I was focusing on birthing more bulborb to ease the pain, but the pikmin captain started throwing more pikmin again. The pikmin were attacking far more ferociously than before. Their flowers and leaves were replaced with a bright red spark that hurt more and more with every hit. I was blinded by a rainbow of madness as I felt my body giving in. My mind was blanking out slowly, my breath was withering and I felt my body writhing and shrinking inside. I was bleeding severely and my eyesight suddenly blurred. I knew what was happening. I was dying.

"AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!" I screamed.

I gave in to the brutal beating of the pikmin as I exhausted all of my breath. My body unexpectedly exploded in three parts, leaving only my head and a mistaken dinner to remain. The voice of my children had long disappeared, and now the sound of the world was slowly fading away…

This country is corrupted. Poisoned by the heinous government of the Land Council, this land has lost its honor and it started when the pikmin were killed in the Extinction movement of the King. The pikmin are exacting their revenge on this land, but now the question stands. If the pikmin win, what will happen to the country? If the pikmin lose, will they be mercilessly slaughtered to extinction? Either way, this war 

has delved far too deep into the problem to fix it. Only one side will win in this war. A war that we cannot hope to win…

Dear Pikmin, if you plan to win this war, good for you. I wish that you fix this corrupt country in any way possible. Restore peace to the world that you have taken back and promise the future generation a beautiful world. A world where life is normal, where normality is beautiful. If you do, perhaps dying in your name would be for the best.

To die in their name is dying for the future.

Emperor Bulblax from the last chapter is still alive, Louie has convinced Titan Dweevil to betray the country, the Land Council kill off their own animals, the bulbmin resent the Land Council government and their parents, and now the Empress Bulblax is dead.

This is, by far, one of the most intense chapters I've written so far. There's only three more chapters to go you guys! I'm not gonna give up now! In fact, wait for next because that is when I'll have a new chapter up.

There are still some mysteries left unsolved even through this chapter. Do not worry, because that is for the end of the fic. Now, R&R or my money back!


	12. Fate of the Land Council

Normally, I would've strained for this chapter, but I decided to take a break and have a short and fun special chapter. We might as well, you know?

Forgive me for the hiatus.

Fate of the Land Council.

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I can only say I was astonished.

Pikmin were far more advanced than I thought.

Right now, there were exactly twenty of each pikmin, except for the hundred of purples that were carrying an astoundingly large item. They were all gathered in a circle in the center of the three Onions as they were stared down by a white pikmin in the center. This white pikmin in particular was rather odd as it had crossed its arms behind its back and stood rather importantly. The pikmin awaited the seemingly important pikmin's speech as the white pikmin broke the silence.

It took me awhile to understand the pikmin's tongue, but I was able to translate it without much trouble.

"…all here because I need to tell you all something of grave importance."

Quickly, a blue pikmin responded.

"If it's so important, why didn't you tell us earlier when you were still a pikmin?"

"And is it so important that you had to call us out of the onions?" another pikmin from the yellow group said.

The White Pikmin seemed to chuckle at this.

"To tell you the truth, I never really was a pikmin until recently." It said.

This spurred murmurs among the pikmin as a red pikmin from his respective group walked forward and spoke.

"You wouldn't happen to be one of the Bulbmin we saved from Frontier Cavern, would you?"

The white pikmin stood silent for a while before speaking.

"Yes, I am."

There was a short silence among the pikmin, which was soon broken by the voice of another pikmin.

"And?" a blue pikmin inquired, "We saved some Bulbmin from Submerged Castle and they didn't have anything important to say."

"If I recall, there were two separate families of Bulbmin in the Submerged Castle, one on the second floor of the cave and another one on the fourth floor. If memory serves, one of your purple pikmin should have memories of being a Bulbmin. I wonder if he's here…" the White pikmin seemed to scan the area looking for a purple pikmin.

"Over here." A Purple pikmin spoke out as the other pikmin uttered silently in astonishment, focusing on him, "there were a whole army of Blue pikmin when they entered right?"

"Yes." The white pikmin replied, "and the cave was under control by a Land Council member."

At this, some of the pikmin shuddered in fear at the word 'Land Council' as others leaned their heads sideways with no knowledge of the subject of significance.

"That would be Waterwraith, correct?" the red pikmin from before said.

"Yes. Waterwraith happened to-" the white pikmins eyes shot open in surprise, "Wait, how did you know that the caverns leader was Waterwratih?"

The Red pikmin shot back with a question of his own.

"How did you know about the Submerged Castle and how many families of Bulbmin were there?"

The pikmin looked back and forth between the two pikmin in dialogue waiting for the first one to speak. After a while, the white pikmin spoke.

"Weren't some Bulbmin left behind after Waterwraith was killed?" he asked.

"Yes, some of them were left behind," the purple pikmin from before said as his head drooped in sorrow, "Many of them knew what horrors awaited in the world outside without parents. That was why they hesitated before it was too late as they knew our leader would be difficult to find if they didn't follow quickly enough."

"I tell you, it was a scary feeling back there," the white pikmin said. It almost looked like he was smirking.

"Wait, you mean to say…" the red pikmin said as he learned who the white pikmin was.

"Yes, I was one of the Bulbmin left behind in Submerged Castle," he said as many of the pikmin stood back and gasped in astonishment.

"Wow, life must've have been very hard for you after that, what with no mother and all," the purple pikmin said to him.

"If not amusing," the white pikmin exclaimed, "I had a very interesting time in the wild if you ask me," he said, almost as if he was proud.

"I'm sure it was," the red pikmin said, "but I believe you had something important to tell us. Otherwise, we wouldn't be out here."

"I suppose you're right," The white pikmin said, "it is something all of you need to know anyway," he said as he began.

"As you all know, you have all been venturing into caves and dungeons, following your captain without hesitation. You all walk, work, and fight with your Captain as you continue your progress deeper into caves. I'm sure it must be fun defeating oppositions and utilizing your advantage of numbers to overwhelm them. It must be an even greater feeling to have defeated a giant animal that we all normally thought was undefeatable, such as the Burrowing Snagret or, ahem, Waterwraith."

The pikmin talked among each other in agreement.

"However, the Land Council has caught wind of your triumphs and are beginning to make plans. They have assigned the murder, execution, and extinction of any and all pikmin on sight. It is clear that they are doing all they can to try to neutralize the threat we are as pikmin and have unknowingly thrown this country into discord. Many animals are evicting this country in fear of being killed by us pikmin while others are trying to oppress the Land Council."

At this, the pikmin began conversing with one another in concern and fear.

"Despite these commands orders, the Land Council is being too hesitant in annihilating the pikmin and aren't working fast enough. They are showing signs of weakness and it seems that the leader is becoming distant from the Land Council. He shows up late for meetings, shows little care for whenever a member of the Land Council dies, there have even been rumors going around that he is going to disband the Land Council."

The pikmin began talking to each other again, with a much more positive mood compared to before.

"This…leader, you speak of, who is he, if you happen to know?" the red pikmin inquired.

"I've been secretly attending their meetings for a while now and I found out it was a giant bug by the name of…'Titan Dweevil', or Titan for short."

"I see…"

"If you know who the members of the Land Council are, mind telling us the other members?" one pikmin from the crowd asked.

"There aren't many left, I can say, but the only remaining members are Segmented Crawbster, Grand Emperor Bulblax, Raging Long Legs and Titan Dweevil himself. The rest are just acquaintances by species. I also know that their headquarters is a place called Forest Navel."

"I know that place!" a blue pikmin called out, "our leader took us there the first time he came to this country."

"Can you guys move please?" a whole squad of purple pikmin suddenly came by carrying a large object shaped almost like a bone. I didn't notice them at first because I was so focused on the pikmin's meeting.

"Oh, it's you guys," one yellow pikmin asked, "where has our leader gone to?"

"Some Gatling Groinks started wandering too close to the base so he and the black leader are trying to lure it away from the onions."

"Ohh, how brave…" the yellow pikmin said in praise.

"Hopefully you guys heard the whole thing because I don't really feel like repeating myself." The white pikmin proclaimed.

"Don't worry, we heard. We could've said something sooner but we wanted to focus and dragging this object to our leader's 'ship' as I heard him call it."

"Was that all you wanted to say?" one purple pikmin from the other side of the object asked, "because I want to hear your story of how you survived by yourself."

"Well, I suppose I am finished. But that depends on how badly the rest of you want to hear it." The white pikmin replied.

The white pikmin was met with positive replies from the crowd. I noticed that one red pikmin was wandering away from the crowd as if he was in deep thought.

"You see, after we left Submerged Castle," he began, "I came to realize the pikmin's wprk against the Land Council. Bulbmin have had quite a history with the pikmin and we found ourselves liking the pikmin more than the members of the Land Council. It wasn't news when we heard that the Land Council was, to put it bluntly, royally screwing up the country over their efforts to eradicate the pikmin threat. We weren't stupid either, because we all knew what happened six months ago. Knowing whose side we wanted to be on, we made preparations to help the pikmin in our own way."

"One day, I organized a group of adolescent Bulbmin like me and had them prepare a special surprise for the forces of the Bulblax tribe's warriors. And it was a brilliant plan too. As I mentioned before, I was secretly attending the Land Council meetings, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. When the Emperor Bulblax started making preparations to trap the pikmin in the Bulblax Kingdom, I knew I had to put my plan into action."

"I told the king that he should send in his troops after the pikmin entered the Bulblax kingdom. He found the idea fantastic, much to my delight, and ordered that I organize his troops in an area and prepare the attack. Little did he know that I had no intention of sending them after the pikmin and rather have engaged his troops in an ambush. As I expected, the plan worked and us Bulbmin managed to kill off the Bulblax tribe's most powerful warriors before the pikmin had to."

"Wow, you did that??" one yellow pikmin proclaimed among the others who clamored in praise, "We owe you one!"

"I don't need anything special," the white pikmin said bashfully, "just beat the Land Council and liberate the country."

"So then what?" another white pikmin asked.

"Well, we did what any army would've done after a victorious battle like that. We partied. But we didn't count on the parents intruding and risk our hides being reported to the Land Council for treason. So, we had no choice but to slay our own parents."

"Whoa…that's heavy," a blue pikmin exclaimed.

"I wonder what it's like to have a parent," one pikmin pondered.

"Maybe the Onion is like a parent to us?" another pikmin said.

"Afterwards, I decided to work alone for awhile. I infiltrated another family of Bulbmin and pretended to be one of the kids. I was hoping on infiltrating another Land Council meeting for future references but I did not expect to meet the pikmin while under surrogate care. This was back at Frontier Cavern, the cavern that housed the second Empress Bulblax. I was already planning on doing more things after the Empress Bulblax was slain, but turning into a white pikmin was the last thing on my to-do list."

"After a while, I decided that I would let the pikmin take care of everything else from there. With only four members left, I knew that the pikmin would be victorious. To be honest, however, I was very surprised to learn that the pikmin were following a leader this whole time. It did explain everything, though, like why the pikmin went underground, how the bridges were built, the disappearing treasures, and how the pikmin were smart enough to overthrow certain members of the Land Council. Even so, the pikmin got this far following their leader, so I trust that the leader will help the pikmin make everything all right."

"So, you don't mind being a white pikmin?" a purple pikmin asked.

"Nah, I've come to accept it. How hard can it be?"

"Out of experience," one red pikmin explained, "the leader has been known to sacrifice white pikmin to larger, tougher animals."

The white pikmin stared for a while, but then closed its eyes.

"Well, I suppose it's better losing one pikmin than thirty of them…" the white pikmin said, drooping morbidly, "but if it's for the sake of the pikmin, I can die in peace…"

"Hey, don't be so negative," a yellow pikmin said as he walked up to the white pikmin and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I say, live today and let tomorrow become today."

"…heh, thanks."

"Hey guys! Our leader is coming back!" a blue pikmin exclaimed, "I can feel it. He's coming!"

"We must go back in the onions. Hurry everyone!"

The pikmin soon retreated back into the onions without a moment's haste. All but the purple pikmin carrying the object and one red pikmin. One red pikmin stood there, standing near the leg of the onion as it remained in deep thought. I couldn't tell what he was thinking of but it was clear it was of importance if a pikmin had to be provoked to think that long. Soon enough, he started climbing back into the onion as…huh?

That red pikmin…he had…

…

Well, I certainly had taken the pikmin for granted. They were much more advanced than I normally give them credit for. Land Council? Ambushes? Six months ago? Clearly, the pikmin have been through a lot before Olimar crashed on this planet two months ago. If I ever told him of what happened here…

No, I shouldn't. If he discovered that the pikmin were benefitting greatly from this treasure hunt of his, he would begin to doubt the faith and loyalty of the pikmin. He would surely be heartbroken. I just can't tell him what I saw today. Rather, I think I'll watch this 'war' for the 'country' wage on as we continue doing as we please. It will be very interesting to see how it turns out.

The purple pikmin have taken the treasure back to me. Time to collect it.

"Price: 3000 pokos. Name: Doomsday Apparatus."

Hmm…Land Council…how many have died in their name?

Six petals…

More and more questions surface as I near the end of this story. Next chapter will be the fate of the Segmented Crawbster, all together leaving three chapters left. And yes, I will cover what happened six months ago in the story, you can count on that.

Oh, and forgive me for the hiatus.


	13. Fate of the Segmented Crawbster

Fate of the Segmented Crawbster.

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_The area was dark. Very dark, save for the dim light of a flame as it danced under a cylindrical metal object. And the area smelled like a kitchen. A dank odor of a tantalizing, hunger inducing scent wafted through the area as a giant spiderlike creature stood in front of a pot. On top of him stood an alien-like person with a bright blue beacon on his head. If one could guess, it seemed that the alien was teaching the spider how to cook._

"_I think I'm getting the hang of this," Titan Dweevil said as he stirred the elixir._

"_That's good. Keep at it while I check on the Crawmad," Louie said as he jumped off the spiders head and made his way to a steaming pot._

"_Man, this is going to be an awesome meal," the Dweevil commented, "Withering Blowhog Curry, Fiery Bulblax steaks, Hermit Crawmad and Water Dumple seviche, and guzzle it down with some tasty berry juice." Titan Dweevil soon found himself drooling as he salivated at the meal._

"_All right Dweevil, we should be done now," Louie said as he began chopping up Crawmad meat, "Turn off the stove and start setting up the plates."_

_Titan Dweevil eagerly followed as he turned off the fire and began preparing to eat._

_After a while, dinner was served. But before Louie could eat, he had to set up his air tight tent since he couldn't eat in the poisonous oxygen. Titan Dweevil watched as his package transformed into a large tent. Taking his plate, Louie walked into the tent and sealed it as gusts of wind expelled from the tent. From the inside, Louie took his helmet off as he deeply breathed in the filtered Hocotatian air. Louie then undid a zipper in the tent that allowed him to see Titan Dweevil through a plastic window. Louie and the giant shared waves of the hand as they picked up their plate and began eating._

_Titan Dweevil was still getting used to the utensil Louie called a spoon, but at least it was a much less messier method. _

_As Louie ate, he took out his notebook and began writing in new ideas for recipes. Louie took pride in this._

_After a while of blissful, taste-bud tingling sensations, Titan Dweevil began to feel that it was about time he and Louie had a talk. _

"_Louie," Titan Dweevil began, "Why exactly did you come to my country in the first place?"_

_Louie stared at the titan for awhile, surprised to hear him ask this kind of question so suddenly._

"_Well, it's a bit difficult to explain to a species as primitive as yours," Louie said, "But I'll spare you the mind-straining and make it short and blunt; we came here looking for treasure."_

"_Oh…okay."_

_Titan Dweevil still felt uneasy. There was something on his mind that he just couldn't relinquish until his curiosity was satisfied. Something was bugging him and he knew he wanted to know or else he'll lose sleep on it. He noticed his food didn't taste the same as when he first ate it and deduced that his state of mind had an effect on his senses. Giving in, he decided to ask another question._

"_Louie," Titan Dweevil asked again, "Why were you working with the pikmin? I know you are a completely alien animal to this country, but why do you work with those runts?"_

_Louie gave it some thought, and after a while, gave him an answer._

"_Well, to be honest, I was working with my partner, Olimar, and he was the one who knew all about the pikmin. After all, he's been to this planet before so all I could do was follow him."_

"_Wait, what do you mean 'planet' and who is Olimar?" Titan Dweevil continued to ask._

_Louie pondered for a bit, wondering how was he going to explain such a complex subject and break it down for a bug to understand._

"_Um, well…the truth about this 'country' is that it's only a small piece of the planet. The actual planet is vastly huge and unimaginably distant. As for the planet, it floats in a dark void we like to call 'space' and can house an infinite number of planets like this one."_

"…_Surprisingly, I think I understand it," Titan Dweevil exaggerated, "So, are you saying you came from a different planet?"_

"_Yes. I am."_

_It made sense to the Titan Dweevil now. How he was so smart and how he was able to do the things he did, he even figured that the reason he wore a helmet was because the air in this planet was bad for him. However, Louie still had another question to answer._

"_So, did this Olimar of yours come from a different planet as well?" he asked._

"_He's from the same planet as I am." Louie answered._

"_So, the first time he came here, he was looking for treasure too?"_

"_Well, not exactly. You see, Olimar didn't come to this planet on his own will, he actually crashed on this planet, or so I've heard."_

"_Crashed?" Titan Dweevil asked._

"_Yes. Olimar was in his spaceship," Louie stopped to see Titan Dweevil trying to figure out what a spaceship was, "er, a type of boat made to swim through space," Louie simplified as Titan Dweevil easily figured it out, "when he hit a 'rock' that caused him to crash into this planet. His 'boat' burned as it fell from the sky and the 'boat' split into thirty pieces."_

_Whoa._

_Whoa._

_WHOA!_

"_Wait a minute, did you say…from the sky?" Titan Dweevil asked._

"_Yes. Did something happen?"_

_Titan Dweevil began to piece together everything in his mind of what happened three months ago._

_The day that star fell from the sky was the beginning of the end. It was a mystery to the animals but it was soon forgotten due to its lack of significance. However, many strange things began to happen after that day, he remembered. Mysterious object suddenly appeared as the animals took a quick liking to them. He remembered how Puffstool showed him the 'wicked' disc he had found the day before and kept it with him. Many members of the Land Council even decided to claim these items as their own, even the Grand Emperor Bulblax was quickly infatuated with a strange pink item he had found days later. They all thought that whoever found them would keep them, but the pikmin said otherwise._

_Unexpectedly, the pikmin population spiked as walls were torn down, animals disappeared, and the mysterious objects disappeared overnight as quickly as they came. The animals were ignorant and wouldn't let go of their precious items. They even scoffed at the pikmin threat and believed that they would disappear as quickly as they were exterminated. But they were wrong, dead wrong. Armored Cannon Beetle of the present-day Awakening Wood was the first to disappear, followed by the Burrowing Snagret trio, Puffstool, Armored Cannon Beetle of present-day Perplexing Pool, and Beady Long Legs of Forest Navel. All of these objects were items that Olimar was looking for and the rumors of the pikmin following a leader were completely true! Olimar led the pikmin, repopulated the pikmin, fought with the pikmin, even defeated the greatest king the country had ever known with the pikmin! _

_It was heart-wrenching seeing those animals fall one by one, day by day, and only now does he learn that all of those deaths and crimes against the Land Council were only in the name of the objects the animals were captivated by. The day that metal object soared the skies and was never seen again was the day he would never forget._

_The day he attended the Grand Emperor Bulblax's funeral. _

"_Louie…" Titan Dweevil said softly, "These treasures you mentioned before, is Olimar and the pikmin after them too?"_

"_Um, yes. Some of the most valuable treasures happened to be in the hands of some strong animals."_

_It all made sense now, but it was an ugly truth._

_All the animals who died in the past weeks, the members of Land Council who met their fate at the hands of the pikmin, the crimes and treason, it was all for little scraps of junk the animals casted off as worthless or of little value. It was all for treasure…_

_And here, he thought the pikmin had a vendetta against the Land Council. This whole time, it has never been the case._

"_Titan Dweevil," this time, Louie had a question, "You told me about your little Land Council, right?"_

"_Uh, yeah…"_

"_If the Land Council is supposed to govern this country and keep things in order, why do you continue to let it fall apart because of the pikmin?"_

_Titan Dweevil knew Louie was his friend, but there were secrets he would never tell, no matter who it was, and this was one of them._

"_I…made a promise to a king…" Titan Dweevil said._

"_What kind of promise?" Louie persisted._

"_I'm afraid I can't tell you that Louie, no matter how much of a friend you are." Titan Dweevil said as he licked clean his plate, which he noticed tasted delicious again, and set it down on the ground._

"_Louie, I have to go now. I'm calling another meeting…"_

"_Um, okay. See you later."_

_He now knew what it was exactly that the pikmin were after. And he wasn't going to break his promise._

"_Kuto…" he muttered._

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _

She was the world to me…

Oh…Ilu…

Before I met her, I believed my life had little meaning in this bug-eat-bug world. I knew that life feeds on life to live, and that one life must end to keep another life living. I had accepted this as the truth and took no shame when I rammed into Wogpoles and Dwarf Bulbears in order to pulverize them into edible chunks of nourishment. For a long time I had believed in this philosophy, until I met her.

We met on the outskirts of the Perplexing Pool when I chased down a Water Dumple who had somehow evaded me for an admirable amount of time. Around the corner of a giant tree, I literally ran into her and it was love at first sight. Her beautiful pale hue, her cute short arm, I couldn't help myself but say the stupidest thing I could think of.

"Hot damn…" I slapped myself in the face in my head.

To my surprise, she giggled, and thought it was adorable how males lose their coordination around females. I agreed, being solid proof myself, and we talked for awhile. I had completely forgotten about my hunger when my stomach decided to be louder than my mouth. Embarrassed, I asked if she would join me for lunch and my heart nearly stopped when she said yes. She told me her name was Ilu, a beautiful name, but I found myself lost when she asked for mine, which I never obtained during my life. On the spot, I said 'Zehl' and she liked it. I liked the name too.

We spotted some Shearwigs nearby who were snacking on some Skitterleafs in a clearing. I was about to make my move for an ambush when a Pileated Snagret crashed the party and began plucking the Shearwigs off the ground. Ilu groaned in disappointment and suggested that we find something else to eat when I said that we already did.

I took a few paces back, coiled up, rolled, and launched myself by forcefully pushing my tail out. What happened was that I threw myself at the Snagret, dive-rolled, and landed on my feet as the Snagret's head rested on my arm, fainted and near death. Not wasting any time, I flicked the Snagret upward and forcefully swung my arm at him, throwing him against a tree and instantly killing him. My work done, I turned to see Ilu staring at me in shock. I was worried that I made myself look too violent until she cooed at my performance and walked towards me.

She said it was the sexiest thing she had ever seen. I was flattered.

We began to spend our days together. We talked together, we ate together. The night before she disappeared, we even…well, I don't kiss and tell. But the point was, she became a part of my life and I couldn't live without her. I was even excited at the thought of raising our kids together, oh, what a blissful and happy vision. But when she disappeared, my life fell apart.

She wasn't there at the place we were supposed to meet and I only assumed she was late. However, I stayed the whole day there and she still didn't show up. I waited for her the next day as well, and she still didn't show up. I began to get worried and knew something was wrong. I couldn't remain calm during the meeting two days ago, when those animals posed a strike against the Land Council. It was then that I learned that Ilu, my love, had been slain by some animals.

My first thought was that it was the pikmin who took her life, which filled with rage, but then Titan Dweevil told me that no pikmin were capable of killing a Segmented Crawbster. I couldn't think rationally back then, but thankfully, Titan Dweevil told me that it could only have been other animals who took her life. Releasing my rage, I attacked the crowd of angry protestors and took an estimated forty-one lives. Ever since then, I've been living in my hole in complete isolation from the outside world. I was no longer allowed outside ever since my recent outburst, but it didn't matter, it was probably for the best.

I clutched the object tightly in my hand. Ilu's treasure. She told me it was her mother's before she died. It was bleached white from repeated exposure to the rain when it was originally a fleshy tan. She was gone now and this is the last piece of her in the world. The only thing that will keep me from forgetting her until I died was her treasure. Ilu…

"Um…Segmented Crawbster?" I heard.

I looked to my right to see an Antennae Beetle, keeping his distance from me, standing there. I suppose he was to inform me of something, but I wasn't in the mood.

"What is it…?" I said weakly.

"Titan Dweevil is requesting everyone to attend the meeting right now. It is of Level 9 importance."

Level 9? The only time Titan Dweevil ever released a Level 9 meeting was when the king died. I wasn't there, I only heard. However, I just wasn't in the mood to attend another stupid meeting, especially since I haven't recovered…

"I deny." I simply said as I walked away.

"But…but sir, this is a command from Titan Dweevil. Absolutely no one can deny him."

"I deny." I repeated, stressing more on the last syllable.

"But, then what am I suppose to tell Dweevil?"

"Tell the guy to go sodomize himself with a twig. Go ahead and quote me, I don't care."

I looked away as the Antennae Beetle hopped away. I couldn't help but feel proud of myself for that comment. But the pride was short lived as I stared into the face of Ilu's treasure. Oh, how I miss her so much…

Before I noticed it, I cried myself to sleep. I began to notice myself slipping into a dream-like world. But I couldn't tell if it was the real world or a dream. It was pitch black so I figured this was how I saw the world if it were a dream. If it wasn't, it was probably night time then.

Then, I heard a voice.

"_Zehl…"_

Zehl…that was the name I gave myself. The only one who knows that name was…

"_Ilu…?"_

"_Zehl…save…" _

It was Ilu.

She sounded weak, but alive. I thought it was a dream because it was impossible to come back after death, but Gatling Groink's have proven me wrong.

I continued to follow the voice through the darkness. It was difficult to see, even with my night vision. I found it odd how I couldn't see the ground before me since my night vision wasn't that weak. Over and over, I shouted her name.

"_Ilu!!"_

No reply.

'_No, don't go away,' I thought, 'I want to see you. If you are meant to die, then talk to me one last time. Don't leave me alone…'_

"_Zehl…"_ I heard from behind.

I quickly turned around, which was difficult for me but in this instance it was like I was on slippery ice, to see her standing before me. I was filled with so much happiness and bliss but it was short-lived as Ilu began to talk with a serious tone.

"_This country is melting, Zehl…" _she said to me_, "I've seen it with my own eyes."_

"_What…what are you talking about?" _I said in disbelief_, "Ilu, I finally see you again, and all you're talking about is the country?"_

"_Zehl, this country is melting,"_ she repeated, _"This country is melting…"_

"_But…what do you mean by melting?"_ I believed it was a metaphor, but there was no way I could take her seriously if she was speaking in riddle.

"_Zehl…stop the country from melting…"_ she continued.

From melting…did she mean how the country was falling apart?

"_But…how?"_ I asked, _"How do I stop the country from melting?"_

"_This country was never meant to melt…"_ she said, _"But if it melts, who will remold it?"_

She wasn't making sense.

"_Ilu… Even if I knew what you were talking about, how can I fix a country?"_

"_Not I,"_ she said, _"We."_

"_We?"_ I questioned

"_Not one,"_ she said again, _"Many."_

"_How many?"_

"_A storm of a hundred flowers…the hexagram king…in their name…"_

"_Ilu…you're not making sense…"_

Suddenly, without warning, there was loud boom sound from behind Ilu. To my horror, I saw a large shadowy creature violently pick up Ilu from her tail and tossed her around. She landed with a bone-crunching thud as I saw blood splatter from her mouth. I couldn't stop watching the horror before me as I soon realized that I couldn't close my eyes. The shadowy creature picked her up by the arm and, by pressing his legs against her, began mercilessly prying the arm from her body. I saw a blue little light on top of the monster and it began to speak. It was speaking in a completely alien language but for some reason, I was able to understand him.

"_When they hear about the sorbets, pies, and parfaits you can make with the delicate, claw meat, they'll be clamoring for every morsel we bring home,"_ he said with a sinister smirk.

"_Let's eat now,"_ the beast said in a familiar voice.

With a hideous twist, the arm snapped right off. I screamed.

And then I woke up.

Ilu was trying to tell me something. I don't know what, but it was obviously important. The first thing she told me was to fix the country. I mean, obviously I noticed. I may have been uncaring and even disregarded the world around me, but I knew the country was falling apart. When I think about it, this all started because the pikmin began to rise in power. Come to think of it, every problem the country has had was regarding the pikmin and their carefree way of taking the lives of animals. If this country has any hope of returning to the way it was…

…in that case, I will have to kill off every pikmin in the country. For Ilu…

I heard something. It sounded like tiny voices. I knew it wasn't an Antennae Beetle…

"It's a miracle!"

"Last floor!"

"C'mon everybody! Let's sing!"

"I like bathtubs!"

"I bet something scary is going to appear."

"Why so serious?"

"My name is salsa!"

No.

Impossible…

They found Wistful Wild!!

We didn't count on the pikmin finding Wistful Wild so quickly. We were unprepared! And now, here I see them, the plants that took the lives of so many animals, even doing the unimaginable by killing Waterwraith and Man-at-Legs! What am I going to do now? Can I fight these guys and hope to off them without hurting myself? Will these guys find my weakness and exploit it?

…

'_Wait a minute. What the hell am I talking about?' I thought, 'I'm the goddamn Segmented Crawbster! I'm a ruthless, cold-hearted killing machine! And here I am, doubting my ability to slay some shrimps like pikmin?! Unthinkable.'_

'_Besides, Ilu wanted me to fix this country…' _I thought to myself.

I hopped down from a large drop and landed fiercely on the ground.

'…_and I'll start by getting to the heart of the problem!'_

I looked in front of me and saw a large number of pikmin, probably a hundred of them if I were to estimate. I wasn't intimidated by their numbers, but I was slightly distracted by the flashing lights of the two pikmin before me. One was lit red while the other was lit blue. But numbers did not matter to me as I have taken on stronger enemies in the past. And I was not about to fall to pikmin!

I wasted no time and curled myself into a ball. Without haste I began rolling out at full speed with every intention of crushing the pikmin under my weight. Any chance I could, I would catch a glimpse of the pikmin scurrying and tried to predict where they would run to. Tilting my body, I could steer and direct my path. And even if rolling didn't work, I always had my monstrous arm backed up with insane strength. I heard a Segmented Crawbster like me once shattered a log in half with his arm! Yes, I was the ultimate life-taking killer! There was absolutely nothing that could-

BAMM!!

Ow, a wall.

Oh, how was I so stupid as to have not seen that wall?! Not only did I land on my back, but I had caused some loose rocks to fall from the ceiling. I prayed that none landed on my tender gut as some crashed around me. I breathed a sigh of relief as I struggled to get back on my side. How embarrassing it was for me, as Segmented Crawbster's have difficulty of getting back up if they're on their back. It certainly does bring shame to Crawbster's when-

AAUGGHH! MY SPLEEN!

All of a sudden, I felt the weight of many pikmin on my raw gut as I screamed in pain. They knew that that fleshy spot of mine was a weak spot. Oh god…the pain… I must…get up!

I slammed my arm hard into the ground as it shook off all of the pikmin from my body. Supporting myself with my arm, I stood right-side up as I concealed my gut again. Enraged, I swung my arm side to side and watched as the pikmin flew. They did not die, to my disappointment, but I did not complain and coiled up again. I resumed my pattern as for generations it has proven to be the superior method of hunting to my kind. I kept my focus on the pikmin as I rolled, or, at least I tried to.

Every time I tried to seek the pikmin while I was rolling, I kept finding myself hypnotized by those red and blue beacons. I tried to focus and aim for the pikmin, but that damn light was so tantalizing, I had to destroy it. I decided I might as well since I was going to kill off the pikmin anyway afterwards. I mean, that light was so-

BAMM!!!

Ow…son of a bitch, my face…

More rocks fell from the ceiling although none managed to hit me. I was dazed by the collision I had with the wall and found it difficult to regain my stature after that. I was sure that the pikmin saw a good time to attack but they didn't do anything yet. I looked around with my eyes and I couldn't see them. Maybe it was because of the sudden headache I had after slamming into the wall that I-

OH GOD!! THE PAIN!!

This time, the pikmin were hitting me harder than before. I literally felt my insides torn apart as the pikmin pummeled away at my organs. An endless number of them threw themselves onto my guts and mercilessly clubbed it into pulp. I couldn't take it anymore and just before I was about to shake them off, I heard a burping sound.

Suddenly, I found myself encased in a skin of stone. I couldn't move a muscle and I tried to break free, but the pain was so unbearable I could barely muster a twitch. The pikmin were still pounding away at my gut and I had no idea how they were able to do so without breaking the rock skin. I began to feel my mind blank out when the rock skin shattered. I knew I had to move quickly, but my body stopped responding.

My breathing began to thin as I felt the blood in my body ceasing circulation. My muscles shriveled as I felt my guts melt from my body.

I was dying.

Time began to slow down as I looked to my side. Slowly, Ilu's words echoed into my head.

'_A storm of a hundred flowers…'_

'_That's right, a hundred pikmin, of course,' _I scoffed at my own stupidity.

'_The hexagram king…'_

'_Well, I don't know what a hexagram is…'_ I continued to think.

'_In their name…'_

'_Of course. I died in their name, didn't I?'_ I thought to myself.

There was so much pain coursing through my body, and yet, why did I feel blissful? Perhaps I was about to meet Ilu very soon… yes, that must be why. Otherwise, I would've fought with all of my power. Ah well…

I saw a red pikmin staring at me as I looked at the world for one last time. I stared back at him and knew that my world would turn blank soon. I didn't realize I had suddenly asked him a question.

"Who will save the country now?" I asked weakly.

I thought it was rather stupid, asking an enemy a silly question like that. I doubt that these pikmin even knew what they were fighting for. Such imbecilic creatures.

"The one meant to be the king," he answered.

I was surprised to see him give an answer, but I stopped caring seconds later.

"This country is melting," I whispered, "Who will remold this ruined country?"

"This country is not melting," he said, "It is molting the skin of a ruined government."

I laughed.

"If it is molting, then what is the skin?" I asked, "What is the true color of our country's skin?"

"It is molting the skin of the Land Council," he said, "This country's true color is Red, Yellow, and Blue."

I laughed weakly.

"Go ahead then," I said, "Save this country. Pikmin of the Six petals."

At last, my organ exploded.

"Save…this…country…" I whispered inaudibly, "Save…Palunata…Distantos…"

And then, the world went blank…

I found myself floating listlessly from the ground. I was confused and looked around in surprise. I was even more surprised to see my own body being hauled away by the pikmin. It was the first time I had ever seen my own body, but because I knew many Segmented Crawbsters looked alike, I wasn't too astounded to see the similarity I shared.

I saw the pikmin head over to Ilu's treasure. I didn't know what they were going to do with it, but then I reminded myself that I was dead and there was nothing I could do. The pikmin formed a circle and picked it up, carrying it in the same direction as my body. I watched as my body disappeared under a golden cone-like object along with Ilu's treasure.

Suddenly, everything began to get smaller. The world before me was shrinking as I soon saw the above world below me. Even then, it continued to minimize in view. Flowers became indistinguishable from land as I saw the country merge into one large piece of land. The land continued to shrink still as I soon saw a sea of blue surrounding the land. All this continued to minimize as, to my surprise, the entire country was a part of a green and blue sphere. It floated there, in a void of darkness as an even larger glowing sphere to the left caught my attention. Soon, the dark void swallowed the green and blue ball along with the bright orange sphere and eventually became total darkness.

Then, I felt a gust of wind.

I was enveloped in a sea of fluffy white cotton as I found myself standing on solid ground. I was even more confused as I stared out into a sea of white fluff. From beyond a mountain of white fluff emitted a golden light over the horizon. I couldn't see where the light was coming from, but its blissful rays enveloped this plain of existence.

The fluffy clouds cleared for me as I was bestowed with a beautiful sight. A field of grass and flowers as far as the eyes can see. Spectralids fluttered in the air as Wogpoles leapt out of the water in a nearby pond. Bulborbs and Bulbears sang their hearts out as Burrowing Snagrets burrowed in and out of the ground in a game of hide and seek. Larval Cannon Beetles were spitting out rocks to see who could knock down the most pins. In general, this place was like a sanctuary where animals didn't fight or get angry with one another.

A heavenly…heaven.

"Segmented Crawbster!" I heard a voice.

I looked to my left to see where the voice was coming from. It sounded familiar but it wasn't Ilu, as I thought at first.

Suddenly, I was pushed quite hard from an unknown force to my right. I wanted to shake my head, but I didn't feel dazed. It was an odd feeling, but nonetheless, someone wanted my attention. I faced the person who had shoved me.

"Segmented Crawbster! It's so good to see you again!"

No way…

"G…G…Giant Breadbug?!" I gaped.

"So, did you finally croak as well?" he said.

'_There was no way,'_ I thought, _'Giant Breadbug was reported dead. And yet, he's talking to me before my eyes. How am I talking to a dead animal?'_

"But…what's going on?! You're supposed to be dead!"

"Maybe I am," he said, "Maybe I never died. Did you ever think of that? Maybe I made it look like I was dead and actually came back to life?"

I only stared at him, still brimming with surprise.

"Nah, I'm just screwing with you. Of course I'm dead."

"But…how are you talking to me?"

"Did it ever cross your mind that you're dead too?" he stated.

"I…uh…"

"I know what you're thinking. First, let me explain," he said, "this sanctuary you're in is called 'Zerroh Lyvves Levt'."

"Zerroh Lyvves Levt?" I asked.

He nodded.

"This particular area is a place where animals go to when they die."

So I really am dead then.

"You'd be surprised to see who is here."

"Who?" I asked.

"Everyone." He exclaimed as he turned around and yelled, "Hey guys! Segmented Crawbster is here!"

From the sanctuary came a stampede of different animals. As they got closer, I recognized their grand figure to be the dead members of the Land Council. Beady Long Legs, Pileated Snagret, Ranging Bloyster, everyone who died was here.

"Hey Crawbster!" Pileated Snagret said to me, "glad to see you're finally here."

"You say it like you wanted like you wanted him dead," Ranging Bloyster commented.

"Oh, excuse the wordplay," Pileated Snagret apologized.

Some of them I didn't recognize, like Empress Bulblax and Man-at-Legs. Empress Bulblax was standing on two legs but she still had a large bulbous back. It was probably the deflated egg sac in her body. Man-At-Legs, on the other hand, looked more like an inside-out heart on three legs. I was very disturbed at the sight of him and found it hard to keep looking.

"Um…Man-at-Legs…do you think there's any way to look like the way you did before you died?" I asked.

"Oh, uh, sure…" he said.

In a second, Man-at-Legs went from an organ on stilts to his old mechanical body, complete with a fourth machine leg. I stared in amazement.

"I don't know how to explain it, but it seems that this place acknowledges wishes and grants them. I always wanted to live without a machine in me, so that's why I looked like that."

"Oh, uh…okay," I mumbled, "just put that costume on every time we talk, okay?"

"Sounds good."

I looked at everyone who were talking to me, making jokes, talking about the past, and asking me questions. This moment we had with each other was a great moment, almost as if there was never a pikmin threat. I also thought it was odd that these guys were feeling happier than usual. Was being dead a good thing?

"Huh, surprised to see you here," I heard a voice from behind.

I looked to see it was Waterwraith. He stood there looking empty, as if he was emotionless.

"Waterwraith?" I asked.

"I didn't think you would die that easily," he said, "So, what excuse do you have?"

"Ever since he died, he's been asking everyone that question," Empress Bulblax told me, "It seems that he wants to see someone who didn't die without killing a pikmin."

"I never managed to kill a single one," he murmured, "and I want to be mad about it…"

"Once you answer his question, he'll go back to waiting." She told me.

"How many did you kill?" he repeated.

I tried to remember if I ever did take a pikmin's life. I didn't recall hearing the cries of a pikmin or any bones crunching…

"None," I said bluntly.

Waterwraith stood there, unfazed, and walked away. I didn't understand why he was behaving like that, although he did believe he was an unkillable creature. Maybe he won't rest until he knows that at least one of us killed some pikmin before dying. So much for the superiority complex.

"Segmented Crawbster," another voice behind said. I turned around to face an Emperor Bulblax.

"Hey, you're the brother of the now Grand Emperor Bulblax, aren't you?" I said.

"Yes, I am."

"I heard an Emperor Bulblax had died, but I didn't really think it was actually his brother."

"I was tricked into switching places with him," he claimed, "he knew the pikmin were coming and decided to switch holes so that I could get killed by the pikmin."

"You were tricked, sure," I said.

"But that isn't what I wanted to talk about," he said, "There's someone who needs to talk to you."

"Huh? Who?" I asked as he began walking.

I followed him into the sanctuary and watched many animals playing. Most of them spent their time sleeping except for a Spotty Bulbear who seemed to be entertaining his child. The two stared each other down as the young one would eventually make dashes at the parent only to miss. The young Bulbear was determined and would get up and repeat the process over. The parent Bulbear just chuckled as he encouraged the youth to try harder.

Off to my left I saw a parade of animals ride a big Puffy Blowhog. I was astounded at how many animals were riding the airborne creature because a normal Puffy Blowhog would collapsed at half of the weight he was carrying. Wollywogs croaked in happiness as Dweevils chirped in glee. From below, Hermit Crawmads and Bulorbs hung from ropes as they listed lazily side to side. There was even a Toady Bloyster sticking to the bottom of the balloon-like animal. Apparently, he was holding onto the ropes.

'_This whole place is like one big carnival,' _I thought.

"Here she is," Emperor Bulblax said to me.

I turned to see the person I was supposed to talk to. I couldn't believe it…

"Zehl…" she said to me.

"…Ilu?"

Without haste, I quickly ran up to her. I was so happy to see her again.

"Zehl," she said to me, "this means you're dead, right?"

I looked down grimly but spoke.

"Yeah, I am. I guess I didn't see it coming," I answered.

"Zehl…the pikmin did this to you, didn't they?" she asked.

"…yes."

"…"

"Ahem!" the Emperor Bulblax behind us coughed, "I believe you had something important to say to him."

"Oh, right," she turned to me and began talking.

"Zehl, who told you I was dead?" she asked.

"Um, if memory serves, it was Titan Dweevil," I replied.

"Titan Dweevil…" she said, "…was lying."

"What? Why would he lie?" I asked.

"To cover up his own sin. Titan Dweevil was the one who killed me."

All of a sudden, I was filled with rage.

"Titan Dweevil…that no good asshole…"

"Not just her," Emperor Bulblax said, "Many of the animals here have been killed by Titan Dweevil in the name of food."

"He tossed us in a vat of boiling acid," some Water Dumples said.

"He churned me into meat patties," a Wollywog said, "and sliced an Orange Bulborb in half."

"You see, Titan Dweevil has betrayed the country by slaying and eating the animals." Emperor Bulblax explained.

I was disgusted. How could Titan Dweevil do such horrible things to his own people? And what would compel him to even eat them? I'm not even sure that it was in his diet to eat all those animals. The rumors of animals disappearing from the country would eventually trace it back to him. And on top of all that, why would he choose this time of all times to commit such heinous sins? The country is in the middle of a war! No wonder the country is falling apart!

"Ilu," I said, "I remember having a horrible dream I had the night before I died. You were in it and you were trying to tell me something."

"Oh. Well, I actually had nothing to do with you having the dream, if that's what you're thinking," she said.

"Well, I couldn't help but assume," I said, "But you did say something along the lines of how the country was melting and that many people were suppose to fix it. You also said something like a hexagram king and a storm of a hundred flowers."

Ilu stared at me trying to answer my questions.

"Sorry Zehl, but, I can't imagine myself saying those things. I don't even know what they mean."

Too bad. I had no idea what made me had that dream in the first place. But it was obvious it wasn't by coincidence. Titan Dweevil killed Ilu, and the shadowy creature in my dream who recreated the death matched Titan Dweevil altogether. Maybe something used Ilu's form to try to get my attention as to what they were trying to tell me?

Well, whatever. It was too late now and I was dead. I found it ironic how I found out everything after I died but couldn't do anything to address it. I knew what needed to be done and now I'm too late to do it. I needed to stop Titan Dweevil.

I needed to kill Titan Dweevil.

"Zehl, now that we will spend our eternity here together," she said, "why don't we start by walking together?"

"An eternity talking to you?" I said, "I can't think of anything better."

And so we began walking down the sanctuary together.

If Titan Dweevil were to die, I can only think of one person who could do it. No, not one. Many. The pikmin have gone so far now that they have no choice but to press on. And they do so without fear. They will continue to pave away the Land Council and oppress them until the country is theirs. Those who stand in their way will fall. Those who resist them will die. And of all the people who must die, Titan Dweevil must die in their name.

To die in their name is dying in the name of the country.

"Although, I can think of something better than talking," I expressed as Ilu giggled and tapped me with her arm, which felt more like a pound.

I deserved that.

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I am rather proud of this chapter. We get to see the sanctuary the animals go to when they die. And the name? I made it up on impulse. But hey, catching Nintendo's sense of humor, it is safe to call it 'Zerroh Lyvves Levt'. And that is totally not meant to say anything else (end sarcasm).

Anyway, two chapters left. I can assure you, Raging Long Legs chapter will be one of the longest chapters I will ever write. And why is that? Eight bosses including Raging Long Legs himself as well as the meeting Segmented Crawbster did not attend. You guys ought to pay me for this, but I have neglected a disclaimer and that would be very bad on my end. Better play it safe though.

Pikmin © of Nintendo.

Read and Review please! Expect the next chapter some time before the end of July.

Hmm, Palunata Distantos…where have I heard that name before?


	14. Fate of the Doomed

YOU THERE!

YEAH YOU!

I HOPE YOU HAVE A BLANK SCHEDULE TODAY! IF NOT, READ THIS CHAPTER SOME OTHER TIME! THIS IS A SERIOUSLY LONG CHAPTER!

*TURNS OFF Caps lock*

So yeah. Insanely long chapter. Lots of proofreading. Occupied with playing new games. Laziness. That's what took so long. I suck at finishing on time.

Not only will I be covering Raging Long Legs death, but EVERY boss that you fight in the Hole of Heroes. It will be like Pileated Snagret's chapter, but longer and more dramatic.

Also, I introduce a new bug in the fic. Don't worry, it's just the pikmin variant of the cricket. You'll know it when you see it.

Enough of this! Time to read!

Fate of the Raging Long Legs

* * *

Regardless of what Titan Dweevil says…

I say it is time to take action.

So many animals and bugs have died in the name of the pikmin. So many other animals are fleeing from the country in fear of the pikmin and the Land Council has lost their loyalty. And yet, even when our most powerful members wrongfully die at the hands of the pikmin, even when everything is slowly churning into a violent tornado of turmoil, why does Titan Dweevil persist to do nothing? Why does he not do what is necessary and exterminate the pikmin like the King before him did? Why does he continue to let this country fall apart, the very country that the King and generations before him worked so hard to form? Does he pity the pikmin? Does he not care for the country anymore? Is he knowingly letting the country fall apart?

Just what is he waiting for?

Already, two of my valued family members have been slain by the pikmin. Beady Long Legs of Perplexing Pool and Man-at-Legs of Valley of Repose, both of them died in the name of the pikmin. I admit I was taken aback by the news of his death as well as the slaughter of animals in their respective burrows. Man-at-Legs, in particular, was heralded as a nearly invincible fighter that not even Gatling Groinks could've held a candle to. But when news of his death spread around the country, animals who previously thought they were invincible now shudder in fear at the very name of the pikmin. The pikmin have even done the impossible by slaying Waterwraith, an animal believed to have no true weakness. The entire country is high-strung now as many animals fear for their lives. They know too well what the pikmin have done to the Land Council and the damage they can do if they were to be left alone. They go farther and farther with each step they take. When will they learn they have gone too far?

That's right. The pikmin don't learn. Otherwise, they would've stayed put when the King ordered the mass execution of the pikmin six months ago.

It was night time when I was pondering these subjects. I stared out into the beautiful yet harsh wilderness that was Wistful Wild as the moon casted its silver glow upon the autumn plagued ecosystem. It has been days since Empress Bulblax the Second died and so far, no recent pikmin activity to speak of. Come to think of it, the pikmin have been too quiet as of late. Something is bound to happen; I can feel it. I wasn't sure what it was though…

I was standing near the graveyard of the King. I didn't know much about the guy, but I know he came from a long line of Emperors who united Palunata Distantos. I stood at the entrance of the grave and stared at the ground where the King was still buried in. When he died, the animals of this planet decorated his grave with gifts and food, each one rarer then the last. By now, only one gift remains after six months and that was the giant triangular sheet of metal they had found days before. Titan Dweevil had his cronies carry it to the grave; one of his first major contributions to the Grand Emperor. The rusty brown metal was expected to remain there for at least four years.

"Grand Emperor," I said as I imagined the King standing there before me, "If there was ever a time the country needed you, it's now, more than ever."

'_What would he do?'_ I thought.

"Raging Long Legs," I heard a voice from behind.

I turned around rather slowly and greeted an Antennae Beetle.

"Titan Dweevil is calling for a meeting. It is of Level 9 priority."

'_Level 9?' _I thought. My surprised expression clearly gleamed on my face, _'He only calls for those meetings if they were really important. Is Titan Dweevil finally getting serious?'_

"Is it right now?" I asked.

"Yes. Each and every animal in the remaining areas are to attend this meeting. Absolutely no one can deny."

"I'll be there right away," I confirmed.

As the Antennae Beetle hopped away, I made my way to the Forest Navel, which was only a short distance from here.

'_About damn time,'_ I thought.

* * *

The Land Council HQ was full of animals at the meeting. There were a lot more animals present than the usual amount that came in the meetings before. There were so many animals, in fact, that I couldn't take a step without crushing an animal. There weren't just normal animals either. Emperor Bulblax and his three brothers, Pileated Snagret and Burrowing Snagret of Hole of Heroes, a foreign Ranging Bloyster, a Man-at-Legs, a Beady Long Legs, various Gatling Groinks and Bulborbs were present. It was practically a zoo.

As I stared out into the assembly of animals, the first thing that came to my attention was that an important person was not here.

"Where's Segmented Crawbster?" I asked no one in particular.

I know a nearby Bulborb heard me and began asking the same thing to the nearest animal. Some repeated the question with curiosity while others replied with an intrigued 'no'.

Although I didn't really care much for Segmented Crawbster, I did understand what he was going through. The pain of losing someone close to you is a pain that leaves a hole in your heart. I experienced this pain when my brothers died. I loved my brothers dearly, and when I heard what had happened, I nearly collapsed from depression and mourn. I would never forgive the pikmin for what they did…

They were my cherished little brothers.

Sometimes, people ask me why I call them my brothers even though we were different species. Well, it was a really long time ago when we met. I guess the term 'brother' came to us when we were actually inseparable friends. Ah, those were the days. I'll always remember the day I first met them two years ago…

* * *

"_Hey!" I yelled, "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"_

_It was a wet morning in the Distant Spring and I was awakened by a strange sound. I got up from my nest, which was situated in a log nestled comfortably in a corner of the puddle called Distant Spring, and peered out into my yard to find a young Beady Long Legs stomping on my berries. I became very angry to see him crush away days of back-breaking harvest. It took days to gather those berries. My sudden outburst and rage grabbed his attention as the berry juices seeped away in the water._

_I stared at the juvenile Long Legs as he looked back at me. He had the same look as a mischievous delinquent caught red-handed. _

"_Uh, I'm sorry," he said to me, "I didn't think these berries belonged to anyone."_

_I hopped down from the opening and shooed him away from the mess he made._

"_So, did it ever occur to you that these berries, which took days to gather, happened to be clustered here for no real reason?" I asked._

"_I…I'm very sorry, but I haven't eaten in days and I guess I started eating without knowing it," he claimed._

_I stared at the young Beady Long Legs with only a shred of pity. However, sympathy somehow overpowered me as I pushed a single berry towards him. _

"_One berry," I bluntly said. _

_The young Beady Long Legs looked at me with appreciation. He hastily thanked me and began pounding away at the berry as fast as he could. He wasn't exaggerating, obviously, as the juices were quickly absorbed into his feet before they even spawned a trickle of juice. I stared in awe as I had never seen anything move so fast since, being a Raging Long Legs, I was a slower specie altogether. The young Long Legs was done as the berry had been pulverized into oblivion. We both stared at each other for awhile, clueless as to what the next event of the day was._

_Losing interest, I began walking away in search of more berries to stock up on. Since I had lost some to a certain Arachnorb, I believed it was necessary to find more before I forgot. However, my journey was cut short as the young Beady Long Leg called out to me._

"_Hey! Wait up!" he yelled._

_I looked behind me to see the Beady Long Leg walk up to me. I didn't know what else he wanted with me so I decided to ask as nicely as I could a question. _

"_What the eff do you want now?"_

"_Um…I was thinking if, maybe, I could tag along with you…" he asked shyly. _

_I was perplexed at such an odd question he gave me. Having a friend was one of the last things I wanted to do before I die so I wasn't sure how to answer._

"_Uhh…my siblings were killed by a clan of Spotty Bulbears a few days ago. I don't know where my parents are, or if I have them for that matter. I'm very lonely…" he explained._

"…_and?" I replied._

"_I want to stick around with you for a while. Trust me, as soon as I grow up and can fend for myself, I'll be gone," he offered._

"_Gone?" I asked, "Without a word?"_

"_If you'd like, yeah."_

_I thought for a moment and decided that it wouldn't be too bad._

"_Alright then, you can tag along with me," I said, "But you must make your own bed."_

_The Beady Long Leg nodded._

"_Okay, I will."_

_With that settled, I ventured on into the Distant Spring with a new partner on my side. I didn't care too much for him or his presence, nor did I acknowledge it as an entirety, but I knew he would be of little hindrance whether he was there or not. It did occur to me that we would have to hunt for more food as a pair but a partner to assist in such hunts is a privilege in most cases. Regardless, he was gonna be there for a few years and I already said yes. What could possibly go wrong?_

_A few weeks later, me and Beady, as I decided to call him, had witnessed a rather strange event as we stood on top of a tree stump surrounded by puddle level water. We had just finished breakfast, and by breakfast I meant dead Wollywog and Blowhog, when we saw a rather peculiar scene unfold before us. A Common Long Leg, an Arachnorb specie like us except no large feet of any kind, was being chased down by a rather large Spotty Bulbear. Even though Common Long Legs were known for being the fastest of the Arachnorb species, it had no hope of outrunning the menacing Spotty Bulbear, much less a lieutenant of the Grand Emperor._

_We watched in amusement as the Common Long Legs continued to run as the Bulbear pursued him. Finally, the Common Long Leg was cornered against a stump and we watched in hopes of a desperate attempt of fighting back from the poor victim. However, instead of eating the Long Leg, it looked more like the Bulbear was talking to him. Wondering why the Bulbear spent three minutes chasing down a Common Long Leg and not eat it piqued our interest. Curious, we tried to listen to the conversation the two were having._

"…_and your species haven't been pulling their weight," the Bulbear said, "I don't know why the King even bothered accepting the elder's request. You're lucky your species haven't been degraded to midnight snacks yet. And to be on the same scale as a pikmin is quite a dishonor. Even the new member of the Land Council has pulled more weight than your kind. Literally. Those Dweevils are quite the laborers. "_

"_I swear, our people are going to pull something together. Please, I beg of you, just give us one more chance," the Long Legs begged._

"_Tch, I only came here to tell you that your people only have three days left to pull something out of their feces-hole or else the deal is off." The Bulbear explained. _

"_Uh, um, yeah, I'll tell them that," he said. _

_Afterwards, the Bulbear walked away. He passed by us and stared at us for a bit before talking._

"_In a few days, you guys can start adding 'Common Long Legs' to your list of edibles," he said before walking away._

_We both looked at each other for a bit and knew what the other was thinking; something was up. Rallying up our curiosity, we walked through the large pool and towards the Common Long Legs in hopes of answering a few questions._

"_What was that all about?" I asked._

"_Oh, uh, hi," he said, "I don't think I've ever seen you guys around here."_

"_We're a traveling pair," Beady said, "And we've been living around here for a while."_

"_But that's irrelevant," I intervened, "What piqued our curiosity was the subject of you and that Bulbear's conversation."_

"_Oh…uh, well, it's really not that important," he said._

"_That Spotty Bulbear chased you for three minutes," Beady said, "For you to be spared, it certainly sounds important."_

"…" _the Long Leg stood silently._

"_Look," I began, "We're all Arachnorbs here. We can keep a secret, so spill. What were you and that Bulbear talking about?"_

"_Alright," the Long Leg began, giving in, "a while ago, the eldest Common Long Leg went up to the King and made a request. He requested that the Common Long Legs species were to be recognized as sentient citizens and must no longer be the victim of biased predation of the animals that serve the Land Council. The King decided to accept the request on the condition that the Common Long Legs fulfill a criterion no other animal can fill. Lately, that has proven to be easier said than done since being a Common Long Leg doesn't grant us a lot of special abilities. We later decided that the elder should ask the King to change the condition. However, misfortune fell on us as the elder died of a fungal infection the day before he was suppose to talk to the King. Without the elder, our conditions couldn't be changed. So for next few days, we Common Long Legs have been frantically searching for something we could do to serve the King."_

"_That would explain the conversation you had with him," Beady said._

"_I don't know what we're going to do," he said, "If we don't do something, our entire species will be the victim of biased predation on the same scale as the pikmin."_

"_That certainly is something to be concerned about," I said, "So, found anything close to a talent?"_

_The Long Leg looked at us, confused and surprised._

"_The demand for nests and homes are quite high these days," Beady said, "Maybe your species can be effective real estate agents."_

"_Wait, are you guys actually trying to help me?" the Common Long Legs inquired._

"_We're Arachnorbs, aren't we?" I stated, "We may not be related, maybe not even indigenous to each other, but we acknowledge our similar traits and see ourselves as an indifferent race. Whether we want to help one another or not is completely up to the person in question."_

"_In short, do you want our help or not?" Beady said._

_The spider-like creature stared at us for a while. He knew he needed help and such help from anyone like us was grateful by a high degree. _

"…_yes. I need help. If you guys can help out I would forever be in your debt," he said._

"_Well, for starters, aren't you guys very good at finding homes for yourselves?" Beady asked. "Winter is coming around and animals are frantic for what little space is left."_

"…_well, it is true. Common Long Legs are good at finding any place to live," the Long Leg said. "But I always thought we needed to find some way to help out the government instead of working for the government's people."_

"_If the animals find such an ability useful, the Land Council prohibits the death and hunting of the animals due to their utility," I explained. "That's why bugs like Dweevils and Antennae Beetles are protected by the Land Council."_

"_Try presenting it to the King. If you're lucky and the King acknowledges the demand for houses and nests, you might get that protections warrant," Beady said._

"_Okay, I'll try. Thanks a lot you guys."_

_Days later, our new friend from before managed to earn the protection warrant his elder worked for. The King found the Common Long Legs ability very useful. He even used one to relocate the King's old nest to a sandy arena and immediately fell in love with it, naming it 'The Final Trail', which some have managed to misspell on accident. Many animals adored the new nests the Common Long Legs found, even praising them with nectar eggs, something Common Long Legs loved very much. Through the real estate system of the Common Long Legs established by the King, nearly every animal managed to find a place to stay for the winter. Animals like Arachnorbs and Snagrets didn't need places to stay for the winter mainly because Snagrets nest underground and Arachnorbs eat better in the winter due to the high amount of moisture in the snow. Among other animals, they made up the percentage of animals that didn't need nests. It did sound like everything was fine, but little did we know that the King never intended to keep the Common Long Legs safe forever. Come Spring, the protection warrant would melt away._

"_I'm in a lot of trouble you guys," the Common Long Legs from before said to us._

_Over the winter, we became quite good friends with the Common Long Legs we saved. He was a very gentle Arachnorb and didn't like feeding on the carcasses of dead animals. He disliked violence and he was always shy. He wasn't well educated in the tactics of survival so more often than not I would find myself teaching him something. He was like a little brother to me…a disturbing thought._

"_The other day, the King, realizing that Common Long Legs were only useful for finding shelter for other animals in the winter, declared that for all of Winter, Common Long Legs were off limits to predators. But for the rest of the year, Common Long Legs are considered fair game. This was nothing the elder wanted to happen," the Long Leg whined._

"_This is certainly a problem," I said, "Some of the animals around here love Common Long Legs for their crunchy texture. They're one of the most loved preys right next to pikmin." _

"_We don't know how to help you this time," Beady said. "I guess we shouldn't get used to hanging around you anymore."_

"_What?" the Common Long Legs asked, "Why? I've never had great friends like you."_

"_That's the thing. Many animals develop close friendship with other animals around here, but over time, many of them tried to preach to the King to prevent the hunting of certain animals. The King got very mad at so many requests and therefore made a statement that animals were never meant to have friends. It only causes pain when they would be eventually killed. After friendship was abolished from the country, the animals disregarded having friends completely, relying on instinct rather than friendship. This is another reason why the King dislikes the pikmin greatly."_

"_So, you're saying we shouldn't be friends because the King said so?" he asked._

"_No, it's only because it is the most logical thing to do," I spoke up, "Having friends will only make it more painful when a friend dies."_

"_But what about you two?" the Common Long Leg asked, "Why are you friends?"_

_Beady and I took a glance at each other._

"_It makes sense that the ones involved in a friendship had the least natural predators," Beady explained, "An animal that isn't expected to die any sooner than its predicted life span is ideal to be friends with, due to the low chance of the friends dying."_

"_However, we can't say the same for you," I said._

"_Then…what am I supposed to do?" he asked. _

_We stood silently for awhile; unaware that night was quickly approaching. The sound of a bird cawing caught our attention as we saw the sun slowly drift towards the horizon. _

"_It's getting late. We'd better retreat for the night," I said as I turned to walk to our log._

"_Come to think of it, the log is getting pretty small for us," Beady commented. "We were pretty small ourselves back then, but the log is getting cramped. We need to either make space or move on to a new location."_

_While Beady was talking, I noticed that the common Long Legs had yet to move from his spot. He stood there staring off into nothing as night was quickly approaching. If he stood out here any longer he would be picked up by a Bulbax or something. Concerned, I spoke out to him. _

"_Hey," I said. Sure enough, I had grabbed his enough, "Why don't you come on over to our place? We recently overstocked on some food and I was hoping maybe we could pig out together?"_

_The Long Leg stood there for awhile, obviously astounded at such an offer. Beady, hearing my offer, said to me._

"_What are you doing? Sure, we overstocked, but it took days to get all that food."_

"_Don't worry, we'll just restock. It wasn't that hard gathering it all anyway. Besides, it might be the last meal he'll ever have so I want to make tonight count," I said._

"_You rarely are this generous," Beady said, "First time a Wollywog asked you for some food, you stepped on one of his children."_

"_So how about it?" I asked, ignoring Beady, "One more night with your friends."_

_The Long Leg stood there, amazed at my offer. His legs began quivering, clearly shocked at the act of kindness. He stuttered slightly before talking._

"_Th…Thank you. I…I will go," he said quietly, "I just need to inform my people where I will be for the night though."_

"_That's fine. Just don't get picked off on your way here," I said._

_He seemed to shudder at my joke, making me realize I had a bad taste of humor. However, he shook his head and focused on getting home, turning around and heading off into the woods. As he walked out of sight, Beady walked up to me._

"_Does he know where we live?" he asked._

"_He's been there before," I answered, "He found it before the day the prohibition was enforced. That was three months ago though…"_

_Later that night, me and Beady had gotten through nearly half of our food supply. We knew we had to save some for our friend, but he was taking his time somewhere out there. I started to believe he was lost or forgot where the log was, but I waited patiently and hoped he would make it. In the meantime, me and Beady were talking to each other; reminiscing of the old days when we were small and making jokes as well. _

"_I never could touch those mushrooms," Beady said._

_I looked up and remembered the mushrooms that were growing on the ceiling of the log we inhabited. I remember when Beady would spend days trying to reach them. He would hop back and forth on the logs walls trying to touch those small mushrooms, but he never could. He gave up after three days of fruitless jumping. It has been months since then and he already took up half of the log now._

"_Maybe you can touch them now?" I asked._

_Sure enough, as Beady lifted up one leg, he was able to nudge the now large mushrooms. Beady scoffed to himself as he lowered his leg._

"_It only took a few months. I could've done faster," Beady said._

"_If you had hopped a little higher, you could've wedged them off," I said._

"_You make it sound easy. Believe me, it was not."_

"_Why don't you try grabbing those mushrooms on the trees outside?" I said, "I bet you can even reach those."_

"_You're on, brother."_

_I stared at Beady for awhile, realizing what he had just called me. Beady noticed my stare and looked back. For a while, we stood silent, having changed the jolly atmosphere into a one of awkwardness. I remained perplexed at the odd feelings in me. Being called 'brother' would have stirred a fit of confusion and detest, but since it was Beady, those feelings felt more heartwarming than confusing. I had known Beady for a long time, and only now has it crossed my mind that he really did feel like a brother._

"_Sorry," he said, "Beady Long Legs are commonly known to grow up with their siblings. But without any, I sought refuge in another. When I was growing up, I saw you more as a sibling than…"_

_Before he finished, we heard a loud scream outside. Our hearing sensors perked up as the cry sounded familiar. That Common Long Leg was late and the familiar cry was two and two in my head. I began to wonder if he…_

"_Was that the Common Long Leg from before?" Beady asked._

"_It sure sounded like it," I replied, "We should probably check."_

"_Maybe a wandering Bulborb got him. In that case, we shouldn't interfere," Beady said._

"_You never know," I said hastily as I made my way out of the log and towards the sound, "He might still be alive."_

"_You're concerned about him, aren't you?" Beady asked before I walked out of earshot._

_I searched the surrounding area for a while, hesitant to ask nearby Bulborbs and inadvertently tell them about a nearby source of food. During my search, I noticed a conspicuous pillar of steam rising from behind a tree stump. The only time I had ever seen steam, I recalled, was when a Fiery Bulblax had tripped and fell into a puddle. Arousing my curiosity, I made my way around the stump. What I saw then had horrified me beyond belief._

"_It burns…" he said weakly, "so…hot…"_

"…_Common…Long Leg?" I asked hesitantly._

_As I walked toward him, my foot made a crunching sound. I looked under my foot to see a leg, a leg that belonged to Common Long Leg. It was still pooling blood into the water._

_Horrified, I called out Beady._

"_BEADY!!" I yelled._

_Soon enough, Beady came rushing to me and the Long Leg in danger._

"_What? Did you find…dear GOD!!" he responded frantically._

_We had no idea what had happened to him, or maybe, what was happening to him. The pillar of steam was coming from what looked like a mechanical ball engulfing the Common Long Leg. Pipes and metal was painfully embedded in the spiderlike creature as it made a creaking sound along with the sound of scorched flesh. In place of his leg was a sort of mechanical stilt with hinges and a three toed foot. We knew he was still alive, but the machine part seemed like it was…moving…_

'_Say goodbye to your old life…' we heard._

_We looked around and saw that no one but Common Long Leg could've made that voice. After a while we heard it speak again._

'_I need to borrow this body…' it said._

"_Who…who are you?" Common Long Legs said._

'_That's not important. What's important is that you stay alive for a predetermined amount of time,' the voice said, 'until then, have fun with your new toy…'_

"_What should we do?" Beady asked me in fear._

"_I…I have no idea…"I replied._

_I was truly scared for him. Before us was a friend enduring one of the most painful rituals we had ever seen. His leg was burned off and his entire body was blanketed by an extremely hot meld of metal and flesh. Just by looking at it happening was painful to see._

'_Oh, I'm sure you don't need all of those organs, do you?' the voice asked._

_Suddenly, there was a painful singeing sound as the Common Long Leg began writhing in pain, all the while screaming his lungs out. As we watched horrifically, we noticed the machine leg was moving in tandem with the other legs. _

"_His leg…" I murmured._

_For the rest of the night, we stood by the side of our friend, not leaving his side. He was in a coma, a deep one, from the result of the pain he felt from the mysterious animal that attacked him that night._

_It has been two days since the mysterious attack and since then, Common Long Legs had been awake. He was now half machine and the extra weight from the machine was supported by his new mechanical leg. His body still remains a mystery to us, but what we do know is that he is noticeably smarter now. However, whenever he tries to remember what happened that night, he begins to suffer a singeing sensation similar to those of the night it happened. We probably would never know what really happened that night, and Common Long Leg, who now wanted to be called Man-at-Legs, made us promise to never speak of that night again. _

_Man-at-Legs made his nest on the sandy island on the edge of the Distant Spring. He would slump and stay quiet in his little nest for hours, not moving at all. Even when he was hungry, he would barely budge. So, being the concerned caretaker I never knew I was, I took the liberty of gathering food for him. I would try to cheer him up every now and then but no matter what I say, he slumps in that nest of his. I really want to help him with his problem, I really do, but how do I fix something if I have no idea how it got broken?_

_However, something horrible happened one day…_

"_Whaddya mean he can't move?" an angry Spotty Bulbear asked._

_Of all the luck, Man-at-Legs had the misfortune of nesting in a preoccupied area belonging to a family of Spotty Bulbears. Apparently, the Spotty Bulbear went away for mating season and left the nest for a week. He had some Dwarf Bulbears with him that validates his vacation. Any normal animal, a sane animal no less, would have bolted upon learning this. But Man-at-Legs didn't look like he would be moving anytime soon. _

"_Believe me," I said, trying to quell the anger of the Grub-Dog, "I did everything I could to move him, but he just wouldn't budge."_

"_Have you tried force?" he asked, "Being a Raging Long Leg, though a juvenile one, force should have been your first choice and it usually works."_

"_Err…I'm a…different kind of Raging Long Legs," I answered._

"_Feh, you youngin's are too gentle nowadays," the Bulbear said as he walked towards the resting, if not sulking, Man-at-Legs._

"_Wait, what are you doing?!" I asked with great concern, "Don't go near him!"_

_His children, however, were saying the exact opposite._

"_Dinner! Dinner! Dinner! Dinner!" they chanted._

_I watched in horror as the Spotty Bulbear attempted to pry Man-at-Legs off the ground with his mouth. He tugged violently on his mechanic leg, jerking side to side in an attempt to dismember it. As hard as the Bulbear was biting, the leg did not dent, much less did Man-at-Legs move._

"_A bit metallic…the meat is…" the Bulbear grunted through his teeth._

"_Please…stop. Please…desist!" Man-at-Legs begged._

"_I gave you a chance to move," the Bulbear said through his teeth, "Now we just have to settle for some Arachnorb for dinner."_

_After much prying, the Bulbear managed to pull the mechanical spider out of the nest, exposing his remaining three legs. However, this did not stop the Bulbear from trying to rip his leg off._

"_Please stop…" Man-at-legs hummed silently, "You'll regret it!"_

"_Prove me wrong!" the Bulbear exclaimed, "Prove me…what the…?"_

_Suddenly, a billow of steam exerted from Man-at-Legs as a cylindrical object peeked out under his body. From the tip of this object was a thin red line glazing the air as the object rotated and aimed at the Spotty Bulbear. The Dwarf Bulbears and Spotty Bulbear, still clamped on his leg, stared in confusion._

_Nobody could explain what happened next, scientifically or mentally._

_The rattle of a thousand explosions roared. The Bulbear was mercilessly bombarded in a rain of fire as he reclined, kneeled over, and collapsed in a pile of burned and bloody flesh. The Bulbear's face was barely distinguishable from its own back, missing both of its eyes and its face charred. The children watched in horror as they witnessed their parent cease movement. The horror didn't stop there. The red laser had targeted the children and began firing. One was killed instantly as others laid there on the ground, crying in pain as the writhed in their own pool of blood. Before the laser targeted another Dwarf, the cylindrical object retreated into the Man-at-Leg._

_I stared at Man-at-Legs from a fair distance and looked at the animals he murdered. Not only did he, of all the Arachnorbs I knew, kill a Bulbear with unmatchable power, but he used some unknown power to do it. Man-at-Legs bobbed down quickly but regained footing, as if he was sleepy, and looked around questioningly._

"_What…What happened?" he asked innocently._

_I was taken back. Did he have any idea of what he was doing or who he was killing? Does he even know how he did it?_

"_Man-at-Legs…"I mumbled nervously, "…do you have any idea of what you've done?"_

_Man-at-Legs looked at me questionably. Reacting to the smell of burnt flesh, he turned around nonchalantly, only to be bewildered at the blood soaked scene. A violently mauled Spotty Bulbear and bloody Dwarf Bulbears met his eyes as he tapped lightly backwards. His legs began to quiver as the metal clattered with itself._

"_I only blanked out for a few seconds…" Man-at-Legs murmured, "I heard a loud explosion repeat itself over and over…the last thing I remember was being attacked by a Spotty Bulbear…but…why the children? ...why did I attack the children…?"_

_I stared at Man-at-Legs as he asked himself these questions. I hated the feeling I had inside me. The feeling you get when you want to help someone but you have no idea where to start. It was a terrible feeling. After that day, Man-at-Legs, my little brother, would never be the same again._

* * *

The day after that, Man-at-Legs was to report to Grand Emperor Bulblax to explain what had happened to the dead Spotty Bulbear and his children. It took a while for us to convince the King that Man-at-Legs had no idea of what had happened that day and was not in control of himself when it happened, but even then, the king wanted to see the power that killed off a Spotty Bulbear. Man-at-Legs was forced to fight some of the King's forces on the spot, much to Man-at-Legs disapproval. Despite the power of the King's forces, Man-at-Legs was unharmed. A lot less could've been said about the King's men. The King was so pleased to have such a powerful creature that he would completely disregard the death of the Spotty Bulbear and his own men so long as Man-at-Legs became a member of the King's forces. I didn't know what Man-at-Legs was thinking when he said yes. He did hesitate though.

The sound of erupting earth got my attention as I focused my optical senses towards the seat of the Titan Dweevil. Lifting one leg up, followed by the other, the remaining legs stand up, and altogether lifting him up from under the ground to over the grass. He stared at the entire assembly of animals, slowly rotating back and forth to take it all in. Finally, after what felt like a minute or two, Titan Dweevil began speaking.

"Excellent," he said, "You have all assembled here."

He stared out into the crowd, confirming his analysis.

"…I think. …where's Segmented Crawbster?" he asked.

As the animals inquired one another, an Antennae Beetle walked up to the Dweevil.

"Um, I was the one who informed Segmented Crawbster about the meeting," he said nervously.

"And? Why isn't he here?" Titan Dweevil asked.

"Well, I told him he had to go, but he denied. I stressed the importance of the meeting as well but even then he denied."

"Well I never," Titan Dweevil said, insulted, "He's going to face an infraction for this then."

"Um, he also said, and I quote, 'go sodomize yourself with a twig'…"

If it weren't for the distance, I could've sworn I saw his eye twitch.

"…unquote." The Antennae Beetle finished.

Titan Dweevil stood there for a while, unmoving and unflinching.

"Thank you…Antennae Beetle…you may be seated now…"he said slowly, as if he was trying to repress something.

I had known Titan Dweevil rather well for a long time, and I had low expectations of him when it came to speeches, but what he said next would totally blow my expectations out of the water.

"It has been 28 days since the pikmin began their attack on Palunata Distantos and the Land Council, and as expected from comparing their previous efforts, they are proving to be most troublesome pests, if not inextinguishable vermin. For the last few weeks, every animal who has ever gotten with five inches of the pikmin found themselves lifeless and flopped over on the floor, dead. For the last few weeks, members of the Land Council, once proud and powerful animals of the country, have fallen in the name of the pikmin. For the last few weeks, the entire country has been thrown into a cyclone of fear and confusion as the once humble animals of our country now quiver, tremble, and flee at the very name of the appetizers we called 'pikmin'. And, despite our best efforts to retain the forces of the pikmin, despite our true motive to protect the name of the country from the vermin saplings, despite our musical lust for the discord of broken bones that belong to the very pikmin, they only grow stronger and grow in numbers while our forces diminish, subtract, minimize, and shrink. You could even say we're fighting a one-sided war, the hopeless kind.

"Even so, why is it that, despite being obviously superior, we have yet to discover the true purpose of the pikmin? Why is it so hard for us to comprehend their motive? Why can't we discover their true intentions? Why haven't we figured it out? Like how the pikmin go underground knowing that their onions do not follow them, or how the pikmin were smart enough to defeat such titans like Waterwraith or Man-at-Legs. All of it is still a mystery to us! We have no hope of figuring out the pikmin! We haven't even answered who, what, where, when, how and even why?!"

Titan Dweevil paused for a moment, allowing the audience to absorb his dramatic speech.

"Until now," Titan Dweevil said calmly as he held what looked like a pink star attached to a silver ring.

All of the animals stared in awe at the curious trinket Titan Dweevil was holding in his hand.

I wasn't as intrigued, though.

"What is it?" I asked out loud, breaking the moment long silence.

"I have no idea," Titan Dweevil responded quickly, "but this sort of item is certainly something the pikmin would like. I believe it is a treasure to them."

"Is that what the pikmin have been killing animals for?" Emperor Bulblax asked.

"As ugly as the truth is, yes."

"The pikmin must be rather stupid to go after pointless trinkets," some animal in the crowd said out loud.

At this, many of the animals began to laugh. I personally thought the humor was crude and unneeded. It was almost as if we are still underestimating the pikmin like we did several months before. Of course, Titan Dweevil didn't like the joke but waited patiently for the crowd to silence.

"I hope you are done laughing, because it is time to get serious," Titan Dweevil said. "If you haven't realized it yet, give yourself a moment to think. Think of every animal you knew who had an interest-piquing object that could very well have been a treasure. Think about exactly where those animals lived. Seriously, I'll wait."

I decided to think about the animals I knew who had such trinkets like Titan Dweevil proposed. The first one who came to mind was Beady Long Legs. I remember he told me about a mysterious golden item he found near a large castle-like building. He always kept that thing with him…

Wait, was that why the pikmin killed him? Was it because he had that golden item that they killed Beady Long Legs to get it? Why would the pikmin kill an innocent animal in the name of a stupid little treasure?!

I looked around and noticed that many of the other animals had similar expressions. They just realized why the pikmin have been mindlessly killing off the animals of our country. Of course, there aren't a lot of interesting objects like that aboveground, but most of them had already been claimed by other animals, and most of them live undergrou…

Wait…

"Titan Dweevil," I spoke out loud, "Are you trying to tell us that the sole reason that the pikmin venture into caves is because of…"

"Yes," Titan Dweevil answered, "The reason why so many animals have died in those caves…"

The Snagret Massacre of Snagret Hole came to mind.

"…why so many fierce beasts fall to the pikmin, despite their power…"

Waterwraith, Prince Bulblax, Empress Bulblax…

"…why so many innocent-hearted animals would die because of the pikmin…"

Giant Breadbug, Raging Bloyster, …Man-at-Legs…

"…every last life claimed by the pikmin were all in the name of treasures. Stupid. Worthless. Trinkets."

He wasn't kidding. It _was _an ugly truth.

To think that so many animals had to die for something as trivial as trinkets, it only makes one hate the pikmin more. And yet, it motivated the pikmin to try so hard to meaninglessly claim the lives of our country's citizens. It's barbaric for the pikmin to even do such things, but for the past two weeks, it's all they've been doing. What horrible creatures they are. I can't even acknowledge them as a species anymore.

Words cannot even begin to describe their heartless deeds.

"And to think we couldn't despise them any more than we do now," Dweevil said.

He looked at the treasure in his hand, grunted in disgust and tossed it away. Seeing the trinket, a Fiery Bulblax leaped up and caught it in his mouth, followed by a faint swallowing sound.

"Why did you swallow it?" a Hairy Bulborb asked, followed by a faint shrug courtesy of the Bulblax.

"Well, Titan Dweevil," I spoke up, "Now that we know the pikmins true motives and what they are after, what do you think we should do?"

I waited anxiously to hear how Titan Dweevil would answer my question. But at that moment, I temporarily forgot what I knew Titan Dweevil for.

"Beats me," he said with a shrug.

"…"

In unison, the entire audience roared in annoyance.

"What the hell do you mean!?", "You actually sounded cool for a second there!!", "Where were you even going with that?!", "Are you freaking kidding me!?", and other kinds of comments were made. Despite their volume, Titan Dweevil seemed to concentrate in drowning it out.

"It seems you are all still too naïve to realize the answer yourselves," Titan Dweevil commented.

Even though everyone was venting their anger verbally, his comment seemed to cause a hush among the area, slowly emptying the cave of the harsh clamor of protest.

"You all suddenly get mad at me for one little joke," Titan Dweevil said, "This just shows just how hopeless you people can be without a voice louder than your own. If it weren't for the loud voice of the Land council, where do you think you guys would be?"

"Titan Dweevil!" I said out loud, "what do you hope to prove by insulting the country folk like this?"

"Why, I'm not trying to prove anything," Titan Dweevil said to me, "But it seems I gave you all more credit than you deserve."

"Are you calling us stupid?!" one Wollywog near the front yelled.

"No, I already called you naïve, so no need to say 'stupid'," he said, "what do _you_ guys think we should do?"

Many animals stood silently, wondering exactly that. Even I found myself lost as to what we should do.

"Geez," Titan said frustratingly, "so naïve. You've all forgotten how to fight!"

"Will you quit blabbering and give us an answer?!" I said, frustrated.

"Fine, fine," he said, giving in, "Think about this real hard, everyone. If the pikmin are looking for treasure, were should we put that treasure?"

I suddenly had an idea.

"We put as much treasure we can find and store them in the caves underground," I said out loud, "and in those caves we horde as many animals as possible to counter the massive numbers of the pikmin."

Everyone began staring at me at my sudden epiphany.

"...that must be the most ingenious idea anyone has have ever had!" a Careening Dirigibug commented.

"Of course! It makes perfect sense!" more animals began to comment.

"Thank you for that idea Raging Long Legs," Titan Dweevil said, "it just goes to show what wondrous ideas you guys can come up with on your own."

Many animals began to chat with each other, making their own speculations and ideas on how to stop the pikmin. As they continued to talk, Titan Dweevil patiently waited for everyone to hush down, as he had his arms crossed, staring at the audience with a testing patience. Most animals would hush themselves upon seeing this signature expression, and hush they did. After the noise finally died again, Titan Dweevil began to speak.

"So, if everyone agrees with Raging Long Legs idea, gather up anything that may look like treasure and hold it with you."

"But wait," an Emperor Bulblax began to talk, "Where would we put it?"

"I suppose we can keep them in the Hole of Heroes, as it is the most spacious."

Wait, what?

"Uh, pardon me," I spoke up, "but why my cave? I know it has the most floors and everything, but do they have to put every treasure in there?"

"Only so that everything is organized," Titan Dweevil answered, "there are lots of trinkets out there and it would take quite a while hauling all of them in. And besides, as soon as we assign who guards what, they'll be taken out of the cave the next day."

"Well, I guess that makes sense," I admitted, "just remember though, my floor is off-limits."

"Yes, yes, of course," Titan Dweevil said, seeming to brush off my comment without so much as a flick, "But to all of you who are already in possession of what might be considered a treasure, head to Hole of Heroes and sleep there tonight."

"Titan Dweevil," an Emperor Bulblax, no wait, the PRINCE Bulblax spoke up, "Will the meeting end soon?"

"Why?" Titan Dweevil questioned, "Do you have somewhere to go?"

"Why, yes, actually. I need to talk about something with my brother."

"Oh. Well, I suppose it is about time to call it a day. I have to talk to Raging Long Legs myself."

"Huh?" I said.

I was quite surprised with this. Me and Titan rarely ever talk, and we usually talked about things concerning the Land Council. A bit hard to believe since we are both the highest ranks in the Land Council and one would think we'd talk more often. It's just that, when we do, things tend to get a bit out of hand depending on the subject. Last time me and Titan Dweevil had a debate, I remembered too late why he was a rank above me. In such a dire time, what could he possibly want to talk about?

"Remember, move all treasures to Hole of Heroes. Anyone already in possession of a treasure is to sleep over in that hole. And with that, meeting adjourned."

* * *

After Titan Dweevil ended the meeting, many animals left while some stayed to discuss about the whereabouts of some treasures. Titan Dweevil was busy talking to a Burrowing Snagret and a Pileated Snagret while I made small talk with the Beady Long Legs and Man-at-Legs who were present at the meeting. When I was done, I made my way towards Titan Dweevil, who was still engaged in conversation. However, as Prince Bulblax passed by me, I decided to ask him a question.

"So," I began, "what were you and your brother talking about?"

"Oh, that. I simply asked him if I could bunk with him for the night. The missus at home is venting really bad, so I decided to keep my distance for a while."

"Ah," I replied, understandingly, "I guess that's reasonable. At least Empress Bulblax can't move. I'm still single, and trust me, you don't want to see a female Raging Longs Legs on her bad days."

"I can only imagine," he replied, "Well, I must be off. Morning is approaching quickly and my eyes need to be shut. Later Raging."

"Later," I replied, before commenting behind his back about how much I hate my nickname, 'Raging'. Oh wow, how original. Call me after a subspecies name, why don't you? Emperor or Giant, or even Beady sound better. God, I hate that nickname.

After my mental vent, I walked straight towards Titan to see what he wanted with me.

"So what is it?" I asked Titan impatiently.

"Raging," he started, oh how I hated that nickname, "some things have come up and I won't be able to call a meeting if one becomes opportune."

"So, what? You want me to call the next meeting because you can't?" I asked.

"Yes, to put it bluntly."

I was quite surprised at his request. Titan Dweevil usually called all of the meetings himself. In fact, the only other person to have called a meeting besides him was me, when Titan Dweevil became too busy with his newfound 'toys' and I had to fill in for him to resolve the rising complaints of cramped caves and bad neighbors. A lot of animals chose to leave Glutton's Kitchen thanks to my resolutions. I also called one when…Man-at-Legs died…

"Well, okay then. I guess I can do that," I said, "but if a meeting doesn't happen for a while, I'll check in on you to see if your 'problem' is resolved."

"Understood." Titan answered.

"Well, that certainly was a long meeting," I said, hoping to shush an awkward silence before it began, "I'd better return to Hole of Heroes for some shut-eye."

"Uh, Raging…"

"Don't start with me," I threatened, "I know I don't have eyes, but at least-"

"No, not that," he interrupted, "there's something else."

"Oh, well, what is it?" I said slightly aggravated, my tiredness slowly catching up to me.

"I've been thinking," he started, "If we win this war against the pikmin, emphasis on 'if', I think I'll disband the Land Council."

…

What?

"WHAT ARE YOU-" I quickly hushed myself, knowing that other animals were still present in the Land Council HQ, "I mean, what are you saying?" I said as low a whisper as I could.

"Well, let's just say that this has to do with my 'problem', as you put it," Titan Dweevil said.

He was lying.

I couldn't put my finger on it, but something told me he was lying. I don't know if it was the look in his eye or the tone of his voice, but somehow, I knew he was lying. I couldn't tell if he was lying about disbanding the Land Council, but I was almost certain he was lying about his 'problem'. Maybe he didn't even have a problem. Whatever my gut feeling was telling me, I decided against validating his statement.

"But the Land Council is the amalgamation of generations of dictatorship and power. The mere thought of disbanding it is an atrocity to everything our ancestors have worked so hard for. What godforsaken excuse could you possibly have to disband the Land Council?" I heaved silently, trying to keep my plea as much as a whisper as I could.

"…" Titan Dweevil made no motion after my upset exclamation. I was right and he knew it and there was no excuse in the world great enough to allow the Land Council to be disbanded. I had him cornered. He had nowhere to run. He had to fess up and tell me the truth.

"…the truth is…" he started, "…that we need to make our country bigger."

"Say what." I uttered.

"You see…I had plans on expanding our country into the further reaches of the land out there. As you know, there are two other countries out there and we remain anonymous to them. If we were to reveal ourselves now in our current state, the other countries may attack us and claim possession of the land."

"………what does this have to do with disbanding the Land Council?" I asked, still shocked from his answer.

"After this pikmin war is over with, we will only pretend to be 'disbanded' in order to make us look weak and unorganized to the other countries. You see, with some proper representatives, one of the two countries will take us in and add us to their map. After some time, we will defeat their opposing countries, unite the three countries , and then, when they least expect it, betray them and take all three countries for ourselves."

"…Ohhh, it makes sense now. I have to say, that is an ingenious plot," I said, and I rarely say such things to Titan Dweevil, "You had me scared there for a second, but why keep it a secret until now?"

"We still have to finish resolving the pikmin, remember? We can't let the other countries know about us, especially in this time of desperation."

"I see. Well, let's hope we do get this pikmin war resolved. I honestly can't wait to enact this genious plan of yours."

"In due time, Raging," He said as he began to walk away, "Oh, and another thing," he started again, turning to my direction, "whatever you do, don't do anything drastic should a desperate situation arise. I don't want us losing the remaining members of the Land Council because of a bad decision."

I felt a bit peeved that he would expect something like that out of me. I was smarter than that, surely. But instead of questioning his concern, I decided just to agree so that I could go home quickly and get some sleep.

"Yes, yes, will do," I carelessly answered.

"Good," Titan Dweevil replied, failing to catch my tone, "you may return home now."

As Titan Dweevil walked away, I trudged my way out of the Land Council HQ and headed straight to my cave in the Wistful Wild. It was a lengthy walk, despite being the only area closest to the Land Council HQ. When I entered the cave, I felt so tired that I paid no attention to the group of animals who were already assembled within the floors of the cave, ready to sleep as well. I just wanted to get to my nest as quickly as possible before I pass out and sleep on the spot on my way there. Finally reaching my home floor, floor 14, I snuggled into my nest and immediately fell asleep.

* * *

I woke up to a rather rude awakening.

"…have…ful Wi…" was what I could make of the mindless garble above the surface.

Among the nearly inaudible voices were the harsh roars and yells of panic belonging to the residents of Wistful Wild. I sat there in my nest, shifting from side to side, trying to drown out the noise above. But to no avail, I got up with a frustrated grunt and made my way out of the tunnels. I wasn't really a morning person, or in the case of nocturnal creatures, an early-nighter, so I was rather oblivious to the question of what was causing every animal of Wistful Wild to go berserk. All I wanted to do was to shut everyone up so that I could get some more sleep.

I crawled out of the cave's entrance and stared at Bulborbs and Shearwigs frantically running around in a panic. As well as manic Swooping Snitchbugs and bawling Creeping Chrysanthemums, every animal was screaming to the top of their lungs. I took a moment to take it all in and process what was going on, but I did that better when it was quiet.

"QUIET!!" I yelled as I stomped a powerful stomp onto the ground.

The force literally shook the entire area. Little saplings rattled their leaves while pebbles tilted listlessly. Each and every earthbound animal stopped in their tracks while airborne animals took a while to notice the sudden drop in volume. After several seconds of silence, aside from the Krikots comical chirping, I spoke up.

"Can someone tell me what is all the yelling about?!" I asked demandingly.

A Snitchbug buzzed his way over to me as soon as I asked.

"Oh, Raging Long Legs, thank goodness you are here," he said.

"What is going on?" I asked again, "Why was everyone screaming and panicking?"

"Raging," he said, man, do I hate that name, "did you not hear the siren the Antennae Beetles gave off a while ago?"

"I was asleep, what of it?"

"Raging Long Legs..." he paused to catch his breath, "They've found it…"

"Huh? Who found it?"

"The pikmin!! They've found Wistful Wild!!!" he yelled.

Oh.

Crap.

I looked over in the distance as far as I could and I was able to see their handiwork. A carcass of Cannon Beetle Larvae and Hermit Crawmad, a drained puddle, a bridge built across the lake that allowed access to Dream Den…

They found it alright.

"And worst of all," the Snitchbug continued, "Segmented Crawbster is dead!!"

"What?!" I asked in utter shock.

"They found rubble all over his floor, but he wasn't anywhere in the cave," he continued to weep, "And it doesn't stop there. Prince Bulblax and his brother were in the same cave too…"

"You mean they…" I asked, fearing the worst.

"They found blood and slobber all over their floor!! The Prince is dead!! Just like that!!" he continued to yell.

Now I know why these guys were panicking.

Not only have the pikmin found Wistful Wild, home to the remaining forces of Palunata Distantos, but they also killed off two members of the Land Council in one night. These animals were now at a complete loss with two of the most powerful Land Council members now dead. It certainly was a reason to panic.

But it was an opportunity to call for another meeting. And fast.

"Alright, calm down!" I yelled to hush the returning clamor of panic, "You there!" I pointed to a Withering Blowhog, "Go find the nearest Antennae Beetle and alert them that I'm calling another meeting!"

"Ah, right." The Withering Blowhog said before turning around.

"And it is a Level 9 meeting!" I yelled.

"But Raging," he said, "Only Titan Dweevil can call for Level 9 meetings. You can only call for Level 8 ones."

"Level 9, Level 10, it doesn't matter. What matters is that each and every animal is to report to Land Council HQ as quickly as possible! It is of utmost urgency!"

"Uh, right! Whatever you say!" he said before floating away.

I hopped down the ledge with a loud thump as the Bulborbs and Shearwigs scattered quickly towards the Land Council headquarters. I remembered that Titan Dweevil told me he will be unable to attend the next meeting, but I had no idea that we needed to have one this quickly, and urgently. It was almost as if Titan Dweevil expected this to happen and he wanted to be left out of it. It may have been a gut feeling or an odd premonition, but Titan Dweevil will not be at this meeting either way. And worst of all, I had to do the talking. With Segmented Crawbster dead and the Prince Bulblax killed, Titan Dweevil and I are all that is left of the Land Council. Titan Dweevil sure has a lot of nerve to end up absent from this meeting.

Because of the pikmin, once again the Land Council has its back against the wall.

* * *

Well, it was inevitable. This chapter had to be cut short. I'm sitting on 24 pages of secreted epicness, with 3 more on another document. Anyway, cue dramatic cliffhanger.

_What is Raging Long Legs to do now? Only he and Titan Dweevil are all that are left of the Land Council, not to mention a lot of power is lost through the death of the Prince Bulblax. The Land Council is facing serious pressure and with their most powerful forces killed or severely injured, how can they hope to fight back? Raging Long Legs is in control of the meeting, so will he order an all out attack with what they have left, or will he fall flat and endanger the country closer to its grave? _

Meh, I could have done a better cliffhanger than that.

The next chapter ought to come around in a few weeks. I gave up on due dates a long time ago as nothing is ever guaranteed with me.

I've nothing else to say but R&R. I hope you haven't given up on me yet.


End file.
